Omitted
by Daria6
Summary: Jack is concerned that Daniel is endangering himself, and the team, and takes action, only to have it backfire. FINISHED
1. Chapter 1

Jack looked at Daniel with exasperation. The younger man was oblivious to his team leaders concern, and kept moving away from the gate, not paying any heed to his surroundings- as usual, thought Jack. Sighing with frustration, O'Neill headed after the archeologist, intending to rein him in as quickly as possible. Gesturing to the other two members of his team to follow, he hurried down the steps. 

"Daniel!"

Daniel looked back at Jack's bellow, confused.

"What did I say JUST before we stepped through the gate?"

Daniel looked blank. "You said something?"

Jack sighed. "Yes, Daniel, I said something. Something very important. Now think. What was it?"

As Daniel racked his brain trying to remember what, if anything, Jack had said. Teal'c and Carter caught up with them. They watched the exchange with resignation. They had seen similar exchanges many times in the past, and had learned that the only real option was to wait out the two men.

"Don't get lost?"

"No."

"We only have one day?"

"True, but not what I said. Think, Daniel."

The light seemed to dawn on the archeologist, and his face lit up with understanding. "You said, 'Daniel, don't wander off alone. The MALP couldn't get a good view over the hill.'"

"Right! And what was the first thing you did?"

Daniel thought, and then realized Jack's point. "I didn't wander off!" he protested. "You guys were right here, too. I could see you."

"Through the back of your head?"

"Um, sir," Carter broke in, knowing this could go on for a long time. "Didn't you say we have only one day?"

"Yes. And I don't want to spend it chasing archeologists. So Daniel, stay with us. Carter, where do you need to take samples from-"

"Jack! Sam! Do you see what I see?"

"If you see trees, then yes, Daniel, I see what you see."

Sam just smiled, knowing Daniel was about to tell them what he saw.

"No, Jack, not trees. Well, I mean, I do see trees, but that isn't what I was talking about. Ahead of us. There. Through the trees. I'm sure I see a steeple."

"A steeple?" Jack sounded skeptical.

"Yes, Jack. A steeple. As in on the top of churches," Daniel said with exaggerated patience. "Not that I expect you've seen one recently-"

"Hey now! Daniel, I'll have you know-"

"Colonel, shouldn't we go look at Daniel's steeple? We only have one day," Carter intervened before the conversation could get out of hand. "I do need to get those mineral samples, too, or Dr. Foller will have my hide," she added, referring to the SGC's chief geologist.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's get... Daniel! What did I just say!" Jack headed off after the archeologist who was now a good hundred meters in front of them as Sam and Teal'c followed.

"What is a church doing out here all by itself?" Sam wondered out loud. She didn't expect a response, and she didn't get one. Teal'c and the colonel were patrolling the area, looking for any signs of recent habitation, and Daniel was walking around the church. He was studying the architecture intently, frowning. "Daniel? Something wrong?"

"Not really. It's just...well, like you said, this church is out here by itself, and there is nothing I can find to indicate who built it, or what beliefs its builders held. In fact, I haven't found anything that appears to be writing at all. Or any items that appear to be of religious significance. If it weren't for the steeple, I probably wouldn't even guess this was a church.

"Maybe it's not," Sam offered.

"Maybe. But I sure can't figure out any other purpose for it. And why so isolated? We really should look further, see if there are any nearby villages..."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Jack had entered silently, and caught the tail end of the conversation. "Do you have any idea what direction you would want to go? Or how far this hypothetical village might be?"

Daniel fixed Jack with a gaze. "You know I don't."

"Then I guess we won't be doing any searching for villages today. We need to be getting back to the Stargate, and we haven't even collected Carter's samples yet. You know how much I hate to disappoint Dr. Foller."

"Jack, I-"

"No, Daniel. And if you whine, you aren't going to get any dessert."

Daniel glared at Jack, but gave up the argument, opting instead to help Sam get out her sampling equipment. Only then did he start to brighten up.

"Sam, is this the new field pack you've been developing?" Daniel was admiring a piece of equipment that Sam had just unloaded from her pack. "It's really light, isn't it?"

Carter grinned, pleased her fellow scientist had noticed. "Yes. It's only six pounds, compared to the eight the old one weighed. I know it doesn't sound like much--"

"But if you can get a 25 reduction in the weight on all, or even most of the equipment, that would be a lot less to haul around. And then--"

"I could bring back that many more samples!" Sam finished for him.

Jack turned away, not wanting the two animated scientists to catch his small grin. He might bark at them, but he was secretly pleased to see them enjoying themselves. It had been too long since he had his team working like this, hitting on all cylinders. The last few months had been hard on them all, but perhaps most on the scientists. Daniel had endured a horrific addiction and recovery to a sarcophagus, and Sam had been taken over by a Gou'ald. The tie between the two scientists was close-- Sam had been frequently been found near tears while Daniel suffered was through withdrawal, and Daniel had not slept during the time Jolinar inhabited Sam, and probably not much during her convalescent. Seeing the two smiling, working happily together, gave Jack real pleasure.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Jack poked at the fire, wondering idly where Daniel had packed the coffee. It had become something of a tradition for Daniel to smuggle coffee on all off world trips, and for Jack to try to find it. The game had begun after one of the team's first trips when Jack had discovered, to his amazed horror, that Daniel had taken the backpack Jack had carefully packed for him, and had replaced some of the emergency gear, including his emergency blanket and several power bars, with a bag of coffee and his journal. In a fit of ire, Jack had declared coffee off-limit on all future off-world trips. He hadn't dared do the same to Daniel's ever present journals. Daniel had simply stared at Jack's temper tantrum, uncomprehending, and had then calmly pointed out that he hadn't, in fact, needed the emergency items, whereas he had needed the coffee. And the coffee had continued to appear on every mission, despite his routine inspections of Daniel's pack. Because the coffee ban was still technically in effect, Jack had to try to figure out where Daniel might have stashed the coffee. On the last trip he had found it in the spare parts compartment of the MALP, and the time before that, Daniel had actually managed to get the coffee into Jack's pack. Jack had no doubt that Daniel had two willing co-conspirators.

After a fruitless search, Jack decided the need for caffeine was strong enough that he would go directly to the source. Turning to call to Daniel, he realized that he hadn't heard any chatter from the area where the scientists were working in quite some time.

"Daniel? Carter? Everything okay?"

No reply.

Jack rose, listening to his knees crack, and then stood silent, listening. Nothing.

"Teal'c?" he called.

"I am here, O'Neill."

"Have you seen Carter or Daniel?"

"They were discussing going to the stream for water samples. Captain Carter seemed quite intrigued by this planet's metallurgical qualities. She wished to determine if the stream bed contained higher quantities of this mineral."

"What mineral?" O'Neill might not be a scientist, but he had long ago learned that if something was of interest to Carter, it should probably be of interest to him.

"I am uncertain. It was not naquadah."

"Daniel went with her?"

"Yes. I believe he said something about the water being a more likely site to attract any inhabitants of this planet, and maybe being able to recon the area for signs of life-"

"He better not have!" O'Neill said. "If he wandered away from Carter and used the water samples as an excuse, I'll kill him, I swear I will-"

"You will not."

O'Neill sighed. "Okay. I won't kill him. I'll-"

"You'll do nothing. I know that, as does DanielJackson. Which is why he persists in this behavior."

O'Neill looked at the Jaffa with surprise. "Teal'c, I didn't know Daniel's behavior bothers you that much."

"It does not." Teal'c was implacable. "I am replying to your statement. If DanielJackson's behavior bothers you, as his commanding officer you should make him aware. Otherwise, you should not be surprised when it does not change."

O'Neill was stunned into silence. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and then opened it. "I think I'll go find Daniel and Carter." He turned and strode away. Teal'c tilted his head in acknowledgement. Jack had turned away, so he missed the small smile that followed.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

"Daniel!" Jack bellowed. "What are you doing?"

Daniel looked up from his spot in the middle of the stream, where he was precariously perched on a large, apparently slippery, rock, as did Carter from her position on the shore.

"I SAID what the hell are you doing?"

"Taking water samples," Daniel replied, returning to the task.

"Is there some reason you're doing it from there, and not from the shore?"

"Yes, sir," Carter replied for Daniel, who was staring at Jack as though the older man had lost his mind. "I'm trying to see if there is a difference between the levels of this mineral at different depths. I want to try to trace the currents, and see if--"

"Too much info, Carter," Jack complained. "Never mind. Forget I even asked." Jack sighed. Why did he bother? The two youngest members of the team seemed determined to do everything possible to get themselves in trouble, one way or the other, and their ability to do so-- at least in Daniels' case-- was unparalleled.

"Jack, quit worrying," Daniel called from the center of the stream. "It's perfectly safe. I'm going to grab one more sample-- Sam, is this one in the red top or the blue-top?-- and then I'll come back in. Sam?"

"Blue-top, Daniel. Hey, if you could stay there for a few more minutes, I'd like to get one more set of current readings, and I might need you to take one more sample for me."

"No problem," Daniel replied as he drew in what looked like a long fishing line with a small bottle attached to it. Daniel took the container out and poured the water in it into a another container--one with a blue top Jack noted-- and labeled it before putting it in his pack. Daniel looked at Sam, who was still busy taking readings. When she finally looked up, she looked puzzled. "This isn't really making too much sense to me, but I'll have to analyze the data and work on it at the SGC. Daniel, if you could collect one more sample about three feet further upstream then the last one, you should be ale to also get it about a foot or two deeper. That will be the last sample."

Daniel cast the line out with more skill than Jack would have expected from the non-fisherman. He allowed it to sink, watching a readout on the pole the collection container was attacked to. He pulled in the sample, and repeated the procedure Jack had witnessed before. Then he carefully folded up the pole and put it in his pack. He stepped off the rock and began to wade back towards his teammates.

"All done, Sam. I'm coming back now. Jack, quit looking so worried--" Daniel hadn't completed the sentence when he suddenly sank, disappearing from Jack's sight. Jack waited for him to reappear, while Sam hastily rose and joined her CO at the side of the river. When after several seconds Daniel still hadn't reappeared, Jack began to wonder. When after another thirty seconds he still couldn't be seen, Jack cursed, shed his pack and jacket, and dove in. Swimming toward the spot where he had last seen Daniel, Jack noted that water was fairly clear. When he reached the spot where he thought Daniel had been, he took a breath and dove down. He hadn't gone very deep when he spotted the archeologist, and immediately realized his plight. The spot Daniel was in was considerably deeper, a hole of some sort having been formed in the river bottom. Daniel had stepped into it. How he had missed it on his outward trip was beyond Jack. That alone would have been no problem, since Daniel was a competent swimmer. But he'd been wearing his pack, and the bottom of the river was filled with debris and deadfall. Daniel's pack had caught on a buried fallen tree, neatly trapping him.

Daniel was still moving, and Jack could see he was fighting the pack, but to no avail. He seemed unable to shed it. Jack swam down deeper. Seeing him, Daniel turned toward Jack, gesturing at the recalcitrant pack. Jack nodded, and then reached out to Daniel and began to work on releasing the pack from Daniel's shoulders. Finding the quick releases, he freed his friend, who immediately headed to the surface. When Jack reached him, Daniel was gasping desperately for air.

"Close one, eh?" Jack said quietly. Daniel was trying to get himself under control, and couldn't spare breath to talk, so he merely nodded.

"Let's head in," Jack suggested. Daniel shook his head, pointed down toward the pack.

"It's okay, Daniel. The US government can replace the pack."

Daniel shook his head again, adamant. "Samples," he gasped.

Jack sighed. He knew Daniel would not give this up. "Okay, I'll go try to free your pack."

Daniel again shook his head. "Not you. Me. My responsibility."

Jack looked at him, taking in the grim determined stare, and decided to take advantage of this opportunity. "Yes, it is. Go get it, if you can."

Daniel nodded, took another few deep breathes, and dove. It seemed like forever, but Jack knew it could only have been seconds, when Daniel reappeared, triumphant. "Got it!"

"Good. Now let's get out of here. We're already behind our schedule. I'm just glad you didn't have the GDO."

An hour later they were packed and ready to go, but Daniel was still trying to get water out of his pack. He had nearly given up. At least the carefully packaged samples were saved. And Daniel was beginning to become concerned. Jack had not spoken to him about the incident. He didn't seem angry, but he was uncharacteristically silent, and with each additional moment of silence Daniel grew more concerned.

"Jack?"

"Yes, Daniel?" Jack's voice was even, without a touch of anger or irritation, but also without any warmth.

"I'm sorry," Daniel tried, uncertain of what he was apologizing for. After all, he hadn't stepped into the hole and been trapped on purpose. It had been an accident. He'd been helping Sam, for pete's sake!

"For what?"

That stumped Daniel. He had assumed Jack would accept the generic apology and apply it to whatever he was angry at Daniel for. Apparently Jack wasn't buying that, though.

"For..." Daniel searched for something concrete to apologize for, "making you get wet?"

"Apology accepted," Jack replied, but still without any warmth in his voice. Before Daniel could think of anything else to say Jack turned to Carter. "Were you able to get the samples you needed?"

Carter shot Jack a glance. "Yes, sir. They should be very helpful."

"Good." The eerie calm remained in Jack's voice. "I'm glad to know that the samples which Daniel could have been killed gathering will be of benefit. Oh, Captain, by the way, whose idea was it for Daniel to go out into the stream to collect the samples? The truth, Captain," he added when he saw Carter open her mouth to answer.

"Well, sir, it was my idea to get the samples, but I couldn't really get the areas I wanted, so Daniel offered to go into the water to try to get some samples from a little further out. It seemed harmless, sir."

"I see. Tell me, captain, had any sort of evaluation been made of the danger in the river? The fact that it was unknown whether or not there might be any deep currents, dangerous wildlife, anything like that?"

Carter was staring at her boots, refusing to meet Jack's glance. "Well... I thought about it, sir."

"I'm sure you did. Did you mention your concerns to Daniel?"

"Mmmthinso"

"Please repeat that."

"I think so. Sir." Carter breathed out.

"And what did Daniel say?"

"He was sure it was safe sir, and promised not to go out very far." Carter had realized that any effort to take responsibility or protect Daniel from the Colonel's now obvious anger were futile. It would be best just to give the information he wanted."

"I see. And when he began to go out further, did you by any chance warn him against that? Or dare I ask, order him not to go any further? Or tell him to return to the shore? Anything like that, Captain?" Jack was in full military mode.

"Sir, I did warn Daniel that it might be dangerous further out, and that there might be currents. I did not order him, back. I…I didn't even really suggest he come back to the shore. I was thinking about the samples, and Daniel thought that from the rock he could get the samples we couldn't get from the shore. It did seem safe, sir. Once we started collecting the samples, I was pre-occupied, and didn't think about the safety issues, sir. I take full responsibility."

"Yes, Captain, as the 2IC, you were responsible. We'll talk more about this later. However, even when you don't give a direct order, Daniel should be exercising common sense. I take it you didn't order him out to the rock?"

Daniel had been walking behind the two officers, listening to the exchange. Jack was well aware of his presence. Sensing Jack's fury, Daniel wisely didn't interrupt or try to defend himself. Jack would calm down, Daniel thought. He always did. It was their pattern. Daniel did something Jack didn't like or that worried Jack, Jack got angry and scolded Daniel, and then they calmed down and things continued along. This too would blow over. But even as he had the thought, Daniel felt uneasy. This time seemed different. Jack was mad on a whole different level. He wasn't shouting, or even raising his voice, but he was clearly upset. This might take some time.

"Jack," Daniel began, "I'm really, really sorry. I should have been more careful, listened to Sam's warnings, and not gone in so deep. I put myself, and you, at risk. I'm sorry."

"Daniel, you've already apologized. I accepted your apology. However, you've apologized... how many times, ofr the same or similar things. You've apologized for wandering off on your own, for climbing an unstable cliff alone, for ignoring Carter's orders. You apologize, Daniel, but you don't change the behavior. Are you seeing my point?"

"Yes, Jack," Daniel's head hung low. "I see your point."

"O'Neill," Teal'c spoke for the first time in what seemed like hours. "I believe your point has been made." That was as far as the older Jaffa would intervene, but Jack got the hint. There was no value in berating Daniel. The younger man had, indeed, gotten the point. Whether or not it would stick was beyond Jack. However, as he looked over at the exhausted, still soaking wet archeologist, Jack realized this couldn't go on. He was going to have to do something about Daniel's behavior on off-world missions, or risk losing the archeologist, or another member of the team, to Daniel's carelessness.

(TBC)


	2. Chapter 2

"So SG-1, you have a go." Hammond gave his premier team a brief smile, but it quickly faded. Dismissing them from the briefing, he stepped back to his office; he wanted no part of the scene he knew was imminent. 'Coward' he scolded himself. He knew that what Jack was doing was necessary, but he was still glad he wasn't the one delivering the news. A few feet behind him he heard his second in command's raised voice. 

"Daniel!" Jack called out, stopping the archeologist at the top of the stairs. "I need to talk to you for a moment."

Daniel turned back to his team leader, his arms laden with several folders, a computer disk, and a book. "Okay, but I've got a lot to do to get ready for this mission. I've been hoping the general would approve P3X429 for several months. It has the most incredible mix of architectural styles I've ever seen. It could be an important finding in determining how some of the more disparate earth cultures are co-habitating.I t could help us establish a more definitive time line for when the Go'auld first started-"

"Daniel," Jack interrupted when it became apparent Daniel wasn't going to pause for a breath. "You're not going on this mission."

Daniel froze, staring at Jack. His mouth fell open. Under different circumstances it might have been funny.

"I'm sorry." Jack began gathering the briefing materials Daniel had distributed only an hour ago.

"W-w-wait! Jack! What are you talking about? This is an SG-1 mission! More importantly this is an archeological mission! I have to go!" Daniel was incensed.

"No, Daniel, you don't." Jack met Daniel's glare head on. "Yes, it's an archeological mission, which is why we'll be taking Dr. Fossman. But it's also a planet that was visited by the Gou'ald as recently as within the past three months, as you pointed out. As a matter of fact, although SG-1's part of the mission was largely archeological, the real reason we're going is to look for anything of intelligience or tactical value, and you know it. We have to expect the Go'auld to return at anytime. It's a dangerous location, and we're going to be at full alert the entire time."

"I know that, Jack. I pointed it out in the briefing, remember? That still doesn't explain why I'm not going!" Daniel's volume and pitch were both rising as he moved back toward Jack.

"Because, Daniel, like I said, initially it will be primarily a tactical mission, a fast in and out, until we've been able to get a better recon of the area. I don't see any need to expose you to that sort of danger." Jack's voice was level, reasonable. Inside, however, his stomach was in knots.

Thunk! Daniel dropped his arm load of materials, before putting his hands on his hips. He was starting at Jack with angry disbelief. "All our missions are dangerous! Besides, it will be just as dangerous for Dr. Fossman!"

"Yes, but Dr. Fossman is also Major Fossman, and while not exactly an infantry soldier, has been trained to protect himself in these situations," Jack replied. He knew Daniel didn't quite believe, yet, that he was really going to be left behind.

"But.. " Daniel was at a loss. "So have I! You've taught me the basics of tactics, what to watch for, how to recon an area, you've even made me learn to shoot-"

"Yes, I've taught you those things, but you don't do them. I'm done risking your life, or anybody else's putting you in situations where you don't belong. End of discussion."

Daniel's face darkened. "This is payback, isn't it? For making you get wet on PX-"

"No, Daniel." Jack's voice was raised now, too, matching Daniel's. "You're missing the point. Getting wet wasn't a problem. The fact that if I hadn't gotten wet you would have drowned, is. You only had a few more seconds. What if you'd been alone? What if you had wandered out there alone? You'd be dead, Daniel. Dead. This isn't meant as punishment. You're not off the team. I'm just going to screen missions more carefully, and ones with very high danger indices, like this one, I may reconsider the makeup of the team."

Daniel pulled off his glasses and waved them at Jack. "You're mad, so you're not going to let me visit a planet I've been lobbying six months to visit! It's an archeological treasure trove! I can't believe this!" Daniel's arms were waving widely in his agitation. His eyes were wild. "General Hammond approved the mission on the strength of my research. Mine! Not anyone else's. I'm the one that translated the log we found that referred to P3X429, and talked about it being a possible source of technology. If it weren't for my work, we wouldn't even know about the place. And now, after I've done all this work, finally convinced Hammond, you're saying 'no'. Well, we'll see what the general has to say about this!"

The threat to go over his head finally pushed Jack past the limits of his limited patience. "Daniel, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, I am the leader of SG-1. I decide who goes on a mission. General Hammond has given me that prerogative. And I've decided you're not going. Got it? And, by the way, your attempt to go over my head on this one just gets back to the whole reason you're not going—refusal to accept that in a military organization there are times when you actually have to take orders, for your own safety, and for the sake of others!" Jack stopped at the look of shock on Daniel's face, and sighed. This was not how he had meant this conversation to go. It was unfortunate that the first mission he felt the need to apply his new standard to was to a planet Daniel desperately wanted to visit. Jack softened.

"Daniel, it isn't punishment, or payback," he repeated. "I want you to come on the mission. But it's too risky. I'll make sure Major Fossman documents the hell out of the place, tracings, video, whatever you want. You can do the analysis. And once we've cleared it, done a thorough recon and made sure it's safe, you can join us."

"That will be too late! I won't see it in its pristine condition! I need to see it first hand. I need to see it first!" Daniel refused to be placated. Not that Jack had expected he would give in. Daniel was beyond the point where reasoning was going to work. Jack knew the archeologist was still convinced he could change Jack's mind. Jack, however, just wanted to end the conversation before either one of them said something they would regret later. So he took a deep breath, and tried to ignore the pleading eyes watching him.

"No, Daniel."

Daniel glared at Jack, and Jack saw that it was finally sinking in that Jack was serious. He wasn't angry. He wasn't being petty. He simply was not going to let Daniel go on this mission, and he was not going to change his mind. Daniel stared at him again for a moment. Then he turned and wordlessly picked up his briefing materials and his glasses, and left.

Jack felt sick.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

"We'll see you in three days, SG-1" General Hammond'v voice came over the intercom from the control room, as the revised SG-1 stood on the ramp preparing for departure. Sam and Teal'c looked unhappy, and Bob Fossman looked nervous. He was shooting glances at the other members of SG-1, trying to mimic their calm. Although a military officer, and a member of SG-13, all his reports went through Dr. Jackson, and to have supplanted his boss put him in an uncomfortable position. O'Neill stood slightly to the side, studying his team, assessing their readiness. He glanced up at Hammond.

"General, before we leave, a word," O'Neill requested.

"Certainly, Colonel. The general came down the stairs from the control room, and O'Neill strolled over to meet him. Jack's hand rested easily on the weapon slung in front of him, and to all appearances he was calm, bored even. Hammond knew better.

"Could you keep an eye on Daniel for me?" Jack asked. "He's really upset. If it's safe, we'll send for him in twenty-four hours. I think he's working in his office. He hasn't spoken to me since I gave him the news."

Hammond nodded agreement. "I know it was a hard call, Jack, but for what it's worth, I think it was the right one."

O'Neill nodded. "I just hope I don't have to do it too often. Not that I don't like Fossman, but I'm willing to bet he didn't pack any coffee."

"Pardon me?" Hammond asked, confused.

"Never mind." O'Neill smiled. "But I'm serious about watching Daniel. He's pretty upset, and with the whole team gone…" O'Neill gazed over at his waiting team, and found Sam and Teal'c watching him.

"I understand." The general's face was impassive. "I meant to ask you. How long do you intend to do this? How many missions, I mean?"

Jack started, and turned quickly to look at his commander. "Sir, I don't think you understand. Like I told Daniel, this isn't a punishment. I don't expect him to change. He is who he is. I just don't intend to put him in risky situations where he can't reasonably be kept safe. Not until I see he's taking some sort of responsibility for his own safety. I don't know how long that might take. But for the foreseeable future…" Jack shrugged. "He'll still go on most missions. On the others we'll bring back the information. That was how the SGC had planned to use him originally. I'm just going back to that plan."

The general gave a small nod, and then calmly added, "You do realize that the missions where he's likely to find Sha're- his real reason for being at the SGC- are the high risk ones. He's unlikely to take this well."

Jack shrugged. "I don't expect him to like it. But I don't want to find Sha're and have to tell her Daniel got killed doing something he shouldn't have been doing. It's how it has to be. I won't be responsible for getting him killed-- again."

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Daniel was furious. The rest of SG-1 had departed several hours ago. He hadn't seen them off, still too upset to be civil. Sam had stopped by his office, but she hadn't known what to say to him, and their conversation had been short and uncomfortable. She had promised to stop by when they returned, and had sworn she would make sure Fossman videotaped every foot of P3X429. He had given her a curt hug, knowing she was trying her best to make him feel better, and this mess wasn't her fault, although he knew she felt guilty for having asked him to help collect the water samples. Jack hadn't stopped by, and Daniel was glad. Unless Jack was going to tell him he could go on the mission, he had no desire to speak with his team leader.

Daniel stalked back and forth in his office, yanking books off the shelf, only to replace them. With no outlet for his simmering rage, he was growing more and more agitated. Finally, realizing he was not going to be able to get any work done, he gave up and decided to call it a day. Although he knew that technically he should take a personal day, he decided to forego the formality. He had put so much extra time in at the SGC that if he claimed all of his allotted compensatory time, he probably wouldn't need to work for a year. He never claimed the time, or demanded reimbursement for it, and in return the general, and all of the SGC, cut the civilian more than a little slack. It was a mutual arrangement that worked well for all. They did ask that Daniel let them know that he was taking a day off so that they could keep account of their personnel, and Daniel tried to abide by the requirement, but sometimes the desire to be entirely free of any of the military regulations that felt so constraining got the best of him and he simply fled the mountain. Today was one of those days.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

"Well, General, that was a colossal waste of time." Jack pulled his hat off and shook his head, spraying water in an arch and showering the airmen who had come forward to collect the team's weapons. "It rained so hard that we couldn't get more than a very cursory threat assessment, even though we stayed the extra day. If Daniel still wants to see it, we'll have to try again, but frankly it didn't look like anything very interesting. Not even to Daniel." His eyes searched the gate room for the archeologist in question. Not seeing him, he felt a rush of disappointment. He'd hoped that forty-eight hours would have given Daniel some time to gain perspective, but apparently he was still upset.

The general did not reply, and Jack immediately sobered. "What's happened, sir?"

Hammond looked grim. "Dr. Jackson is missing."

"What?" Jack exclaimed. A wave of concern swept over him, but this was followed immediately by a rush of anger. He barely heard Carter's "since when?" or Teal'c's rumbled "what has been done to find him?"

The responses were nearly simultaneous, but the general was used to interpreting them.

"He disappeared yesterday. He left the mountain shortly after noon, I presume to take some personal time, and never returned. He didn't sign out, but the guard saw him leave- fortunately. When he didn't show up this morning to brief SG-13, I tried calling his apartment. He didn't answer, so I sent an airman to check for problems. There was no sign of him or his vehicle. I've notified the Colorado Springs police, as well as our people, but so far there's been no sign of him."

Jack, Teal'c and Sam were hastily shedding their rain gear, having passed their weapons to the waiting airmen. Hammond noted that while Teal'c and Sam looking concerned, Jack looked furious. Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Hammond beat him to it.

"I've had the hospitals checked for any John Does, but so far we haven't found anything. Which is good news, I suppose. We've retraced his route, and there are no reports of any accidents or abandoned vehicles."

"Damn him! He's trying to pay me back, make some sort of point- well, it's not going to work!" Jack exploded. "I'll bet he's holed up at some library somewhere, or he's gone to Denver, never thinking-"

"Colonel! Get a hold of yourself. There is no reason to believe that Dr. Jackson is deliberately hiding. I have to believe he knows the consequences such actions would bring, and while he might be careless at times, Dr. Jackson does not normally behave so irresponsibly, even if upset. You know as well as I do that in our line of work, odd things happen." Hammond waiting until Jack seemed to be calming down before continuing.

"We all know there are a lot of people who would be happy to see harm come to Dr. Jackson. We're working on the assumption that this is some sort of abduction, until proven otherwise. We have sent a message to Catherine, asking her to let us know if he shows up there. We can't think of anyone else he'd turn to."

That brought Jack up short. Who else did Daniel have to turn to? Who else could he commiserate with? He must have thought he'd be going home to an empty apartment, to eat a solitary meal. How lonely Daniel must have felt when his team had left him behind, for what he believed to be purely arbitrary reasons. Jack was surprised Daniel had gone home at all. He'd been certain the archeologist would stay at the mountain for the entire time SG-1 was off-world. Jack tried to put himself into Daniel's shoes- where would he go at noon on a weekday for solace? He hadn't even bothered to sign out with the guard. Carter must have been ruminating along the same lines because she suddenly chimed in.

"Sir, I know it's a long shot, but has anyone checked the lot for Daniel's car?"

"Explain, Captain," Hammond said as Jack and Teal'c turned to her. Carter cleared her throat and began.

"Well, sir, if everyone was assuming he left, they might just have not bothered to check for his car here. Daniel likes to drive to the far end of the lot and leave his car there, where nobody but the security cameras can sees it, so nobody bugs him about not having gone home—he sleeps in his office a lot," Carter admitted, looking somewhat sheepish at violating the confidence. "If the guards on the night shift see it's still here, they'll tell you, sir, and then you harass him about working too much, but it's just on the cameras, at the command center, it doesn't draw as much attention."

Hammond had been listening closely, and now he went to the wall and picked up the phone. SG-1 couldn't hear the short conversation, but they could see Hammond's expression grow stern. His next words were clear to them all. "Then get someone out there and check that car for any signs of foul play, and I want the sergeant of the guard in my office in fifteen minutes." Hammond turned to SG-1, who had moved to his side. "Dr. Jackson's car is in the lot, at the far western edge. It's been there all night. I'm having the tapes brought down, and we'll see if Dr. Jackson ever even got to his car."

Fifteen minutes later they were assembled in the briefing room, watching the security tapes. Major Fossman had been dispatched to the archeology section to find out if Daniel had mentioned leaving to anyone there. The general had insisted that SG-1 change to dry clothes while the tapes were brought to his office and the correct timeframe was located. Now, fortified by hot coffee, they watched as Daniel opened the trunk of his car and threw his briefcase into it. He had pulled out his daypack, and as they watched he pulled out a canteen, shook it, and shoved it back into the pack. They watched him check each compartment's contents, producing a pair of binoculars, two energy bars, a digital camera, a blanket, and a book. Seeming satisfied, he closed up the pack, threw it over his shoulders, and headed unmistakably toward the side of the mountain.

"He went on a hike?" Jack asked, stunned. "In the middle of a work day?" Teal'c gazed back at him. "It is indeed unusual behavior. I am aware of any reason DanielJackson would need to climb the mountain."

Carter shrugged. "He was upset. He probably needed to get out of here for a while."

"You think he was blowing off steam?" Jack asked, but Carter wasn't listening to him. She'd turned to the general. "Sir, what was the weather like yesterday and last night?"

"What are you thinking, Carter?" Jack was already rising from the table. They needed to be looking for Daniel.

"It was a beautiful day. The evening was nice, too. But quite cool." Hammond interrupted Jack. He turned to the airman who had procured the security tapes and had been standing quietly to the side. "Fast forward threw those, and find out if Dr. Jackson returned to his car. ."If Dr. Jackson has been outdoors this whole time-"

"Then he's pretty damn cold by now," Jack said grimly. He looked at the general. "Sir, we need get looking." Jack turned to the Jaffa by his side. "Teal'c, you're with me-"

"Jack, wait." Hammond stopped his second-in-command, who was half way to the door. "Let's look at the tapes, first. We don't want to waste a lot of time searching the mountain, only to find out that he went somewhere else. A few minutes now could end up saving us a lot of time."

Jack nodded impatiently, gesturing at the airman to hurry. Five minutes later they had confirmed that Daniel had never returned to his car.

"Sir?" Jack asked, barely able to restrain the nervous energy.

"Go," Hammond ordered. "Take whoever you need."

Jack was already at the bottom of the stairs, and Carter and Teal'c were only a step behind. Hammond watched them go, before turning back to his office. From there he made the call alerting Janet Fraiser that her services might be needed. Like SG-1, he believed that Daniel Jackson had gone for a hike up Cheyenne Mountain, as so many SGC personnel did, and had suffered an accident.

What none of them had seen, couldn't have seen, were the images hovering just out of the security camera's range.


	3. Chapter 3

TTTTTTTTT

_One day earlier:_

_  
_The agents had barely been able to believe their luck. After word had arrived that there had been a change in the makeup of SG-1, mission planning had been hastily begun although the details were sketchy as to exactly what had happened inside the SGC. Having one of their targets separated from the others was a rare opportunity, one they could not afford to miss. Within a half-day they had been in Colorado and surveillance had been established. The stunning good fortune of having their target inexplicably leave the security of the mountain alone, and venture alone into the pine forest that covered the mountain, was almost too much to believe. They had discussed the possibility that their surveillance had been detected and a trap was being set for them. But confirmation that the remainder of SG-1 was off-world has followed. Caught off-guard, they had been forced to improvise. They'd quickly scrambled to snatch supplies from their own vehicle, hindered by having to stay out of the line of sight of the security cameras. Their operative inside the mountain had made adjustments to the line of sight of a few cameras allowing a few narrow paths where they could position themselves undetected. Disabling the cameras would have been noticed, but the subtle adjustments were not as easily detected. They estimated they had twenty-four hours before the tampering would be discovered, and by that time it would no longer be an issue. Fifteen minutes after Daniel started up the mountain, they had followed.

TTTTTTTTT

The mid-day escape from the SGC had started out uneventfully. Daniel had followed the well worn walking trail, moving quickly and using the exertion to burn off some of his frustration and anger. Just knowing that he was" playing hooky", was satisfying his need to rebel, and after an hour of vigorous hiking he was feeling better. The trail was becoming steep. He slowed, starting to look around for a good spot to indulge in a little bird-watching, a hobby he seldom had time for anymore. Imagining Jack having the patience to allow him to sit for hours staring through binoculars while off-world brought a smile that quickly faded. Jack had very little patience for any of Daniel's activities. Daniel shook off the thought. He wasn't going to think about SG-1, the SGC, or the mission he was missing. Instead, he focused on the area around him. It really wasn't the best time of day for bird watching. He listened carefully, trying to hear any calls. There was some chirping, and the flutter of wings, but it was mostly jays. As he looked around Daniel noticed a faint trail, probably made by deer, leading away. He began to follow it, noticing that it was paralleling the back side of one of the many stone outcroppings that the young mountains overlooking Colorado Springs sported. Looking up, he confirmed that it was indeed a large chunk of stone, several meters high, protruding from the side of a mountain. The pines had obscured it from the main trail. He decided to climb up on it. He could sit on the bare, sun-warmed rock and look out over the city. It should be a good spot to watch for raptors as well. On a beautiful, clear, spring day like this there might be thermals that the large birds could ride. Daniel continued along the narrow game trail, looking for the best place to climb up on the rocks. It was getting a little late in the year for eagles, he mused, but there should be plenty of hawks…

Abruptly Daniel's attention was snapped back to the present. Something was wrong. He froze, listening. He tried to identify what had caught his attention. It was too quiet, he realized. The jays had gone silent, and even the breeze seemed to have stopped. The hair on the back of Daniel's neck stood up.

Crack! The sound of the snapping twig wasn't really loud, but it seemed to reverberate through the silence. Daniel's head snapped up. It must have been an earlier branch snapping that had caught his attention, he realized.

Looking back toward the main hiking trail, he could see that the game trail he'd been following had curved around the outcropping, hiding the main trail from view. Another loud crack and he reacted intuitively. A few feet from him a partially downed pine leaned against its neighbor. Together the two trees provided a screen. Daniel darted behind them, so he was no longer visible from the game trail. He took a deep breath, and willed his racing heart to slow, still trying to figure out what had spooked him. After all, a twig being stepped on was hardly out of the ordinary. But somehow it was out of place. That was it, Daniel realized. It had been so quiet on the mountain, as he would expect mid-day on a Wednesday in early June. Most people were at work at this time of day. And if there were other people hiking, shouldn't he have heard them before? Either chatting or the sounds of someone behind him on the trail? There hadn't been any sounds since the second twig had been snapped, and that was making Daniel even more nervous. Could it have been an animal? A deer, perhaps? No. He would have heard other sounds from the animal- in fact.

Although he still couldn't say exactly how, Daniel knew he was in danger.

The situational awareness Jack, Sam, and Teal'c had been trying to drill into Daniel's head must have had some effect, Daniel thought nervously, wondering what he should do next. Moving slowly, and as quietly as he could, Daniel lowered himself first to his knees, and then to his stomach, trying to conceal himself better. He listened intently, and now he could make out the very faint sound of voices. Whispers actually, and they were moving closer. It was more than one person, he realized, and it was obvious they were trying to remain undetected.

"He did go this way, didn't he?" a soft voice asked from no more than ten feet away. There was no reply. Daniel presumed the second person must have either nodded, or had chosen not to reply. Daniel lay frozen, barely daring to breathe. After what seemed like a long time, he heard a second voice.

"He must have gone a little higher up, or climbed out on the rocks. Let's go up a little farther, where we'll have a better view."

"I don't see him up on the rocks," the first voice had grown a little louder, confident that Daniel was not in the area.

"You can't tell from this angle. He could be sitting up against a rock on top, and we'd never see him. But he'll have to come back down the main trail to get back to his car. From the top we'll be able to see him."

"Why don't we just wait right here? I'm getting tired." The first voice, obviously the subordinate, was nearly whining.

"If he sees us, we'll spook him, and I don't want to end up chasing him all over the mountain. No, we're just two hikers out for the day that he's going to accidentally run into. Got it?"

"Got it," was the whining reply.

If they said anymore, Daniel didn't hear them. He waited several moments, craning to hear any sound, but all was quiet. There was no doubt in Daniel's mind that they were after him. Who else would they be after? He hadn't seen any other hikers. Who they were, or what they wanted were unknown, but Daniel had not doubt that they weren't hear to ask his opinion about an recent archeological finds, or for his help in translating an obscure Egyptian dialect. What should he do? Going back to the main path and heading down to his car was out of the question. They'd see him. And while Daniel was in good physical condition, he didn't really want to wager his life on his ability to outrun them to his car. Call for help? He'd left his cell phone in his car- the idea had been to get away from the world. Not smart, he knew, and Jack would have his hide when he found out…

'Think, Daniel,' he told himself firmly. 'They don't know exactly where you are, and they don't know you saw them. So think!' He forced himself to take a few deep breaths, felt his heart begin to slow. With hands that trembled, Daniel slid the daypack off his shoulders, and, as quietly as he could, unzipped the top compartment. He pulled out his binoculars. Trying to keep low, he looked up the mountain. Some fifty meters up the slope, near the crest of the mountain, he spotted them. Two men, dressed in camouflage patterned clothing, but not real BDUs. They wore civilian versions of the military uniform, similar to what a hunter might wear, minus the blazing orange caps. One of the men was white, heavy-set, and just over six feet tall. The other was a little shorter, more slender and appeared to be of Asian ancestry, although Daniel could only see his face in profile. Lowering the binoculars, Daniel pulled his pack closer and tried to assess his situation.

Contrary to what Jack might think Daniel did have survival skills. You didn't survive on archeological digs without becoming quite adept at making due with limited resources. Daniel was perfectly capable of taking care of himself in an outdoor environment. What tripped him up- at least in Jack's eyes- was the fact that while he was aware of dangers, he frequently chose to ignore them, if they interfered with the process of discovery. And, he had to admit, sometimes he was so caught up in what he was doing, he didn't notice them. So while Daniel might be perfectly capable of building a fire, or putting up a tent that could withstand a desert windstorm, he frequently failed to notice things that could hurt him. Jack and Teal'c had worked on drilling some situational awareness into his head, and today it was paying off. He was undergoing a practical exercise. He wished fervently that Jack, or Teal'c or Sam for that matter, were here. But they weren't. He needed to get through this himself.

He needed to find a place to hide. Trying to get back to his car was likely to be risky. He might try it later, but for now, he needed to go to ground. He glanced at his clothing. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt. Not as effective as camouflage for hiding, but not bad. He had on hiking boots as well. No problem there. The bright red day pack had to go, though. He opened all the compartments, thinking about what he would need. The emergency blanket, sealed up into a tiny plastic wrapping he'd take. He didn't know how long he'd be here. He would take a power bar, but only one- he didn't have much room to carry things in his jean pockets. But even squashed, a power bar was still food. His notebook was too big to stick in his pocket, so he tore out a few blank pages and stuffed them in his back pocket, not entirely certain what he planned to do with them. He looked for his pencil but couldn't find it. He did find an old ballpoint pen lodged in the bottom of the back, and he took this as well. After some internal debate he regretfully put the binoculars back in the pack. They would be of value, but they were awkward to carry. He clipped his canteen to his belt, and added his car keys to his pocket. Finally he grabbed a nearby branch, and at the base of the pines, he hastily dug a shallow hole, shoved the pack into it, and covered it with dirt and pine needles.

That done, he was ready to move. He needed a place to go. The desire to try for his car was nearly overwhelming, and he had to struggle against the urge. The geography of Cheyenne Mountain worked against him. Had he been deeper into the Rockies, in the National Park, for instance, there would have been plenty of places to hide, and a lot of room to maneuver. Cheyenne Mountain had a steep eastern face. Because of the military base, access was fairly well controlled with was only one road to the top. There was essentially one major trail on the eastern side of the mountain that lead from where he was parked to the scenic overlook platform at the top of the mountain. All other routes down would encounter the fence that surrounded the base and would funnel any hiker back to the main trail or the single road down the mountain. The only other option was to go all the way over the top of the mountain and down the other side, where you could then follow a trail or stream that would, again, lead you the road that circled back to Colorado Springs. Doing that would be possible, although not easy, under normal circumstances. Managing to do it undetected while being hunted was an entirely different proposition.

Hiding was also problematic. The eastern face of Cheyenne Mountain offered little shelter, other than the pines. Daniel knew the men tracking him were counting on that. The situation was almost surreal. He was no more than an hour, an hour and a half at most from his car at a brisk walk, but he was neatly trapped on the mountainside. It was sheer luck the men hadn't seen him. They must have watched him leave his car and start hiking, Daniel realized with a chill. How long had they been watching him, waiting for this opportunity? Who were they? Again he felt panic trying to choke him, the urge to run for the trail nearly overwhelming. Swallowing hard, he began to crawl away from the trees he'd huddled behind, keeping as low to the ground as he could. As the two men had climbed higher up the mountain they had veered slightly south. If they glanced down at that very moment, Daniel would be visible. He needed to move further away and find shelter before they realized he was not sitting up on the rocks and decided to hunt him more aggressively.

TTTTTTTTT

_Present time:_

_  
_"Captain Carter is very astute."

"Yes, she is." Jack stared at Daniel's locked car. Something was bothering him, but he couldn't put his finger on it yet.

"She often thinks of solutions the rest of us overlook."

"Well, Teal'c, that's because she's smarter than the rest of us. Except for Daniel, of course." Jack was starting up the main path, and he gestured for Teal'c to follow. "How I ended up commanding a team with not one, but two scientists on it is beyond me. That's two too many if you ask me."

"I thought you enjoyed working with Captain Carter and DanielJackson"

Jack didn't answer for some time. He was still trying to figure out what was bothering him about Daniel's car. Reaching a branching trail that was considerably narrower, he tried to decide which route to take. Presumably Daniel would have stayed on the main trail, if his goal had been to reach the scenic overlook at the top. Jack sighed before finally answering Teal'c's question. "I do, Teal. It's just that sometimes... well people with too many brains can get themselves into trouble more easily. Keep your eyes open for any sign of Daniel."

"Of course, O'Neill," Teal'c rumbled.

The two men moved rapidly, quickly working up a sweat in the Colorado June sunshine. After an hour they were nearing the peak. Jack stopped to take a sip from the canteen he had though to snag on the way out of the mountain. He studied the trail, noting that a smaller trail branched off from it.

"Shall we take this path? I believe it to be the correct route." Teal'c gestured toward the smaller trail Jack had been eyeing.

"That one, huh? What makes you think Daniel took that one?" Jack asked skeptically.

"It is clear that someone has recently traveled on this trail, and I believe it was DanielJackson".

"How can you tell?" Jack asked, puzzled, scanning the area for the signs Teal'c had seen. He fancied himself a fairly good tracker, but Teal'c could put him to shame. The Jaffa did not reply, but began walking up the trail. He stopped after just a few meters, and reached down to pick something up. He returned to Jack and held out what he'd found.

"A pencil? Teal'c, you've got to be kidding me. That pencil could have been lying there for-" Jack stopped abruptly, taking the pencil from Teal'c. "Oh. I guess you're right." The pencil bore the emblem "Cruisin' Coffee of Colorado". Jack recognized it as matching the emblem on Daniel's travel coffee mug. "But Teal'c, he could have dropped that any time."

"It appears new, and bears no impression of teeth."

Jack nodded, understanding. Every pencil Daniel owned bore an impression of his teeth, a result of his habit of generally not having enough hands to carry all his papers and books, and thus resorting to carrying his pencils in his teeth. A pencil without teeth marks would have to be fairly new. It might not be conclusive evidence, but it was good enough for Jack. He followed Teal'c along the game trail.

TTTTTTTTT

_One day earlier:_

He had to find a way to get above the two men. Crawling through the underbrush, it hadn't taken long for Daniel to come to this conclusion. Right now they had the advantage of being able to look down the side of the mountain and watch the trail. Soon they would reach the top, and from the scenic overlook platform they would be able to see that he wasn't perched on the rock outcropping below. Daniel had no doubt that their hunt would begin in earnest. He estimated he had fifteen minutes, at most, before that happened. He wanted to get as high on the mountain as possible before then. His hope was when they began searching, they would move down the mountain, passing him and allowing him to gain the advantage of higher ground, thus neatly turning the tables.

Daniel knew he needed to buy time for the SGC to realize he was missing and to find him.

If they came looking for him at all.

While Daniel wanted to believe a search party would be formed as soon as his absence was discovered, realistically he wasn't certain. He had left without signing out. What if they thought he had just gone home in a childish show of temper? Daniel was more than a little sorry that he hadn't signed out properly, or let Hammond know he was leaving. At least they would have known how long he'd been gone, and that he had intended to return. He also wished he had parked closer to the gate, where his car would be more easily noticed, and it someone might make the connection that his car was present, but he wasn't. Even more distressing was the thought that, maybe, nobody would care that he wasn't at the mountain. After all, they had omitted him from the mission list. Maybe Jack would be relieved that he wouldn't have to face Daniel right away, and wouldn't try to seek out the archeologist for some time. Daniel's stomach clenched as he realized how long it might be before anyone even realized he was missing. Eventually, they would start looking for him, but how many days might it be before that happened?

He was on his own.

He had been crawling steadily away from the main path, paralleling the game trail, assuming they would expect him to return to his car. Now he began to angle up the slope. It was hard going, on his hands and knees, with sticks and pine needles digging into his bare hands, and even through his jeans into his knees. He tried not to make any noise. He couldn't hear their voices, and assumed they weren't speaking. In the quiet air any sound would have traveled. He kept moving, trying to ignore his discomfort.

"He's not there!"

Daniel had expected it, but still the loud voice startled him. It was nearly directly overhead, approximately 50 meters away. Daniel could tell they were standing on the scenic overlook platform. He lowered himself to his belly, aware they were likely scanning the area. He hoped his dark clothing would help him blend into the forest.

"He has to be. Where else could he have gone? Could he have gone back down?" the voice Daniel now considered "the subordinate" was puzzled.

The voice of "Leader" was angry. "No he couldn't have 'gone back down'" Leader mimicked. "You were watching the trail, weren't you?"

"Yes, but…"

"But what?"

"I did have to watch where I was going, too, you know!"

"Okay, okay," Leader tried to placate his subordinate. "I don't think he got past us. He's on this mountain somewhere. There isn't anywhere else for him to go. I'm going to stay right here and watch the trail, and look around here a little bit. You go down and check that his car is still there. And keep your eyes peeled for any sign of where he went. If his car is still there, stay at the bottom of the trail and keep an eye on it. Call me and let me know what you find. If I see him, I'll call you." The sound of cell phones being turned on followed.

Daniel had to suppress a groan. The situation had gone from bad to worse. Having one of the men watching from above, and the other guarding the path from below made whatever minute chance he'd had of making it back to his car undetected was now gone.  
He listened to the larger man clunk down the stairs from the observing platform. Soon it was quiet again. Daniel lay still, trying to decide if he could risk raising his head. He needed to determine if the man was looking in his direction. To his surprise, the man began calling out.

"Dr. Jackson? I know you're out there. Why are you hiding? We just want to talk to you. We were coming to the base to talk to you, and they told us you'd gone for a hike. We thought we'd meet you on the trail. If we frightened you, we're sorry. Please come out."

For a moment, in his fatigue, Daniel almost believed him. After all, the only thing they'd done so far was to follow him up the trail. They hadn't actually done or said anything overtly threatening, had they? They'd just tried to find him… but then the obvious ludicrousness of the statement hit him. No one at the SGC knew he'd gone "hiking", and they certainly wouldn't have told two strangers where he'd gone. Daniel took a shuddering breath.

The lack of response seemed to irritate Leader. His voice rose. "Dr. Jackson, really, you need to come out now. We must talk to you." When after several minutes his entreaties had had no effect, Leader gave up his cajoling tone.

"Dr. Jackson, we are going to find you. Make it easy on all of us and come out. Where do you think you can go? It's going to get dark soon, you know." Leader sounded smug. "It gets pretty cold up here."

Leader's words may have been meant to be a threat, but they had the opposite effect on Daniel. Of course! All he needed to do was hold out until nightfall. Darkness would steal their advantage. He should be able to make his way down the mountain, undetected. He wouldn't be able to go to his car, of course. They'd be expecting that. But he could get close. When the sun came up, he could run for the SGC. The security cameras would see him. He would make sure to draw attention. And, if he wanted to be extra cautious, he would wait until there were other SGC personnel arriving, who could come to his aid.

Feeling hope for the first time in hours, Daniel looked around. Now, if he could only find someplace out of sight where he could wait for the sun to set. Looking up at the observation platform, he noticed that it was built out of wooden logs, supported on tree stumps. There was a foot and a half between the ground and the lower edge of the logs. If he could somehow get there undetected, it would be a great hiding place. The problem, of course, was getting there. Daniel knew the man on the platform was scanning the mountainside, looking for him. There were observation binoculars, the big metal mounted type that tourists loved, designed to view the city. Daniel couldn't remember if they required money or not. If they did, did the man hunting him have enough change? The thought almost made him giggle out loud at the thought of a highly trained operative, stymied in his efforts to catch a civilian archeologist because he wasn't carrying enough quarters. He choked back the sound that wanted to break through. As appealing as the hiding place above was, he didn't dare chance any movement.

The sound of a cell phone was incongruous with the silence of the mountainside. Daniel heard Leader answer. As Daniel watched, the man turned away from his scanning of the mountain, and paced on the platform as he spoke into the phone.

"It is? You're sure?" There was a short silence. "Is there anyone else around? Anyone acting interested in it?" Another silence. "You didn't go near it, did you?" Leader's voice was growing louder. Whatever he heard must have reassured him, though. "Good. Don't go into the lot. The cameras are probably fixed by now. I don't want security getting interested in his car… What? No, you can't go…. No! You stay in position. It's going to get dark soon. He'll have to come down. He can't stay on the mountain all night, after all. Okay. Yeah. I'll call you later. Don't call me unless you have something to report." There was a chirping, and then silence.

Daniel had taken advantage of the distraction and had moved slightly further up the slope, to an area where the pines were a little thicker. He could no longer see the other man, and hoped that meant he couldn't be seen. Trying to get any higher was just too risky for now. He'd wait to see if a better opportunity arose. Trying to burrow down in the pine needles and leaves that covered the ground, hoping to further conceal himself from view, Daniel worked to get comfortable. Finally satisfied that he was as hidden as he could get in these circumstances, he gave into his fatigue and let himself doze.

(TBC)


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thanks to everyone who has kindly being reading and reviewing. I appreciate it, and it does speed up my writing. Also, I don't think I every specifically mentioned that this is set in the second season. Now, on to the story.

_Present time_

Jack was growing more concerned with each passing minute. June in Colorado Springs could be warm, but the nights were still quite cold and could drop below freezing, especially in the mountains. Daniel had been out here, overnight, possibly injured. Jack didn't want to think about the consequences.

Teal'c stopped so abruptly that Jack, only a step behind, ran into him. "Geez, Teal'c." Realizing Teal'c was not paying any attention to him, he added "What's going on?"

"DanielJackson!" Teal called, his booming bass voice startling Jack. The Jaffa had moved away from the path, his gaze glued to the ground. Jack scrambled to catch up with him. As Teal'c knelt down and began to brush away pine needles and leaves, Jack caught sight of what had attracted the Jaffa's attention. It was a small flash of color amongst the leaves and needles- a piece of red nylon standing out from the surrounding green. Jack immediately recognized it as being from Daniel's day pack. He remembered the protracted argument he'd had with Daniel nearly two years ago when Jack had insisted that Daniel use the military issue backpack, rather than the obnoxiously bright day pack. While Teal'c dug the pack out from the soil, Jack studied the surrounding area. He could see that the ground in the area had been disturbed. Jack recognized that someone had lain on the ground here. Had it been Daniel? Why would the archeologist have buried his pack?

Teal'c was pulling out the contents of the pack. Remembering what they had seen on the tape, Jack realized that the canteen and emergency blanket were missing. Jack's stomach clenched. In the back of his mind, he'd been hoping they would find the archeologist somewhere near the trail with nothing more serious than a sprained ankle, or some other such relatively minor injury. Finding the pack put an entirely different spin on things. The day pack had clearly been buried intentionally, and the implications were sinister.

Teal'c rose slowly, still clutching the shoulder straps of the pack. "O'Neill, I am concerned that DanielJackson has not merely suffered a hiking injury."

Jack nodded.

"Furthermore, I believe there were two individuals, besides DanielJackson, on the mountain either yesterday or today."

"The prints?" Jack asked.

Teal'c gave a slow nod. "Yes. I saw prints earlier that did not belong to DanielJackson, but they did not concern me, as I believed they belonged to other hikers. However, now, seeing them on this trail," Teal'c gestured back to the narrow game trail a few feet away, "where few hikers would venture, I find them to be suspicious."

Jack had already figured as much, but the corroboration of his gut feeling was disturbing.

"However, I believe DanielJackson remains on the mountain."

"You do?" Jack was surprised. "Why?"

"I saw similar prints to these going down the mountain. I did not see any of DanielJackson's prints heading down the main trail. Furthermore, it appears to me that someone crawled away from here. It would make sense that if DanielJackson were trying to hide, he might rid himself of the brightly colored pack, and he might try to avoid detection by crawling, to make himself less visible."

The thought of Daniel crawling around in the underbrush, trying to stay away from someone hunting him was not comforting, but at least it meant that Daniel had been alive, mobile, and apparently using some good tactical sense. Still, it had been a long time since he'd been in this spot, and anything might have happened since. They needed to find him. Jack only hoped they weren't too late.

He began to shout. "Daniel! Daniel can you hear me?" There was no response. Jack began moving more quickly. "Can you hear me? Daniel?"

_The day before_

Daniel woke to near darkness. For a moment he was disoriented, uncertain of where he was or how he had come to be there. The light had nearly faded, the sun having already slipped behind the mountains. It was getting colder, too, and he realized it was the chill that had woken him. He had slept longer than he'd intended, but he hadn't slept much the previous evening after having learned he wasn't going off-world with his team, and he'd been running on adrenalin while trying to evade the two men. For a moment he panicked as he realized he didn't know where his stalkers had gone. They could be anywhere, perhaps very close.

His instinct was to lie still, to continue hiding, but he was shivering violently. He had the emergency blanket, but he didn't want to get it out yet. Compressed into a tiny package, it was convenient to carry. Once opened, it would be awkward. Plus, there was still a little light, and he was concerned that the silver backing of the blanket would catch the light and draw attention. In a few minutes that wouldn't be a problem. He decided to wait a little longer before opening the blanket.

Since waking he'd been hearing the raucous sound of birds settling in to roost for the evening, but nothing else- no voices. That didn't necessarily mean he was safe. The men searching for him were most likely professionals, and would undoubtedly be very patient. They knew he was trapped- all they had to do was wait him out.  
Daniel knew he had been very fortunate to avoid detection to this point. It was crucial that he keep his wits about him. He must not let fear, cold, or exhaustion make him careless. Cautiously he lifted his head and looked up. In the twilight, he thought he could make out the form of a man, sitting on the edge of the platform. Daniel didn't know where to be relieved or concerned. On the one hand, it was reassuring to know the position of at least one of the men, but on the other hand he realized he'd been harboring a faint hope, however unrealistic, that they might have given up. Moreover, he'd been hoping to climb up to platform himself. The space under the platform was an appealing hiding place.

As Daniel watched, a red spot appeared. For a moment Daniel was confused. And then a wave of anger rushed over him. A cigarette. The man had lit a cigarette. In the near darkness it was as visible as if the man had turned on a flashlight. The cockiness inherent in this action infuriated Daniel. It was clear that the men knew he was on the mountain, but they were so confident that they had him trapped that they were unconcerned about revealing their positions. Daniel could only hope the other man was as overconfident.

Daniel considered his next move. It was very nearly full dark now, the landscape a spectrum of grays, all color leached out. The shadows made the landscape foreign. It was hard for the eye to focus, to make out specific shapes. It might be an ideal time to move. Daniel wished he knew what phase the moon was in, and when it would rise. A full moon would provide a lot of light- which could work either for or against him. Daniel dropped his head back to the ground, trying to think.

'It's time to move' he decided. Lying here would serve no purpose. But he needed a place to go. Down the mountain toward his car, he decided. He'd be moving away from at least one of his hunters. Hopefully he'd spot the second man, the one he'd mentally labeled 'Subordinate' before he himself was seen. Daniel knew there was a hole in his plan was that Subordinate was likely to be watching the car. Daniel would have to wait until morning when other cars were entering the lot, and then make a run for it, hoping his stalkers weren't bold enough to try to take him in broad daylight in front of witnesses. He felt a stirring of concern, knowing that many of the groups that might have an interest in him, such as the NID, might very well be bold enough to kidnap him in daylight. But he couldn't worry about that right now. Resolutely, Daniel rose slowly to his feet. Glancing up at the platform he noticed no reaction. Only the glowing end of the cigarette pinpointed the man's location, and it was unchanged. Keeping one eye on the man at the top of the mountain and the other on the rough terrain, Daniel began moving down the mountain.

_Present time_

Jack was growing more frustrated, not to mention more worried, with each passing moment. Shortly after finding Daniel's daypack, they had found a scuffed area of earth where Daniel, had lain, his hiking boots prints clearly surrounding the area. Teal'c hadn't been able to determine how long ago Daniel had left the spot. And then, inexplicably, Teal'c had lost the trail. There had been no other clear sign of Daniel.

So now Jack had not only his own frustration to deal with, but also that of a steaming Jaffa. As they paused so Teal'c could examine a piece of disturbed ground, Jack heard a rustling. His head snapped up and he spun around. Gesturing to Teal'c to follow, Jack headed toward the sound moving as quietly as he could without sacrificing speed. He opened his mouth to call out, but some instinct stopped him. He slowed his pace.

A man was walking down the trail, looking down to watch his footing on the steep portion of the trail. He was scowling. Glancing up he saw Jack, and the scowl instantly transformed into a smile. "Afternoon." He spoke with no discernable accent that might indicate what area of the country he was from.

For a moment Jack had tensed, but he forced himself to relax. Probably just a hiker, he told himself. "Afternoon," Jack replied, studying the man who was still working his way down the path. The man was of Asian descent, dressed in civilian camouflage gear. Oddly, despite the warmth of the day, the man was still wearing a jacket. Jack was aware of Teal'c behind him, but there was no sign that the hiker was intimidated by the large Jaffa.

"You climbing to the top?" the Asian man asked. "It's a great view. It's so clear today."

"Maybe," Jack hedged. "By the way, have you seen anyone else climbing?"

"No," the man said. "I haven't seen anyone else at all. I started climbing early this morning, and I've been at the top most of the day. Why?"

"Oh, we're just expecting a friend to join us. He may have gotten a late start. I'm sure he'll catch up with us later," Jack lied, not sure why he felt the need to do so.

"Well, I hope you meet up," the man smiled. "I need to be heading down. The wife and I are driving up to Denver for the Rockies game. She'll kill me if I'm late. She likes to watch batting practice." He glanced at his watch. "It's going to be tight. Good luck finding your friend." He continued moving away from them.

As the stranger continued down the mountain, Teal'c moved closer to Jack. In a near whisper he said, "O'Neill, that man is not being truthful. The Rockies of Colorado are not in town this week. They are, in fact, on a 'road trip'. Also, he was carrying a weapon in the left pocket of his jacket. He kept his hand on it. And I believe the weather is too heavy for such a warm day."

Jack looked at Teal'c, surprised.

"You sure?"

"Indeed. They are playing the Diamondbacks of Arizona. And the high for today is predicted to be 78 degrees Fahrenheit."

"No, I meant… never mind." Jack lifted his radio. "O'Neill to Carter."

The response was immediate. "Carter here, sir."

"Carter, I want you to bring security forces to the bottom of the hiking trail. There's a man coming down the trail, dressed like a hunter. He should be done in- oh, forty-five minutes. We think-" he paused looked at Teal'c and rephrased, "we're certain he's carrying a weapon. Left pocket of his jacket. Have him detained."

There was a slight hesitation. "Sir, can we do that? I mean, do we have the power to detain a civilian, who hasn't done anything?"

"I don't know, and I don't care. We'll worry about the details later. Just do it!" O'Neill snapped.

"Yes, sir." Carter sounded chastised. "We're on the way."

Jack didn't reply to her. Instead he turned back to Teal'c. "So, where the hell is Daniel?"

_The previous night_

Daniel huddled on the ground, shivering despite the emergency blanket draped over his shoulder. He rocked back and forth, biting his arm to avoid crying out, mentally cursing and trying to control his breathing.

It had been going so well. In the darkness he'd had to move slowly, but he'd made steady progress. He'd had to stay off the trail, of course, which made the going more treacherous. Periodically glanced up at the top of the mountain and frequently he glimpsed the bright red glow from the tip of the cigarette, amazed at how visible it was, even from a distance. Apparently Leader was a heavy smoker.

Uncertain of Subordinate's location, Daniel had to move cautiously. He was fairly certain that the man was at the bottom of the trail watching the parking lot, but there was just enough doubt that he'd been forced to continue scanning the area for any sign of movement.

He had been nearly at the bottom of the mountain, able to see the lights of the parking lot through the trees when it had happened. Exhausted, afraid, and distracted by the nearness of his goal, he'd lost focus and become careless about where he placed his feet. His right foot came down on an exposed root, his ankle had twisted outward, and there had been a sickening crack.

He'd cried out as he fell. For several seconds the pain was overwhelming, and he wasn't able to think. As soon as his mind began to clear, he was seized with fear, certain his cry had been heard. In the clear night air, sound traveled. He needed to move, find a spot where he could gather himself, but the thought of movement made him nauseous. He took a deep breath, and then another. He listened but he didn't hear any sounds of movement. Still, he knew that his cry could not have gone unnoticed. His only hope was that they were so confident that they had him trapped that they were willing to wait until daylight to try to grab him. He couldn't trust that hope. Unable to walk now, he'd be easy prey.

Shaking under his blanket, he realized his previous plan of hiding at the tree line until daylight and then making a dash for the safety of his car and the arriving crowd was out of the question. In pain, frightened, and cold, Daniel was out of options.

_Present day_

"Colonel O'Neill?" Carter's voice was tinny over the radio. "We've detained the hiker. He's claiming he hasn't seen Daniel. But he was carrying a weapon. He produced a permit."

"Most people don't take a handgun hiking or to Rockies games, Captain. You able to get any background on this guy?"

"I'm working on it, sir." Jack could hear the sound of a keyboard. "I'll have to get back to you on that. But, sir, here's the important news. Security has been looking at the tapes again, and they noticed something was off—they'd been readjusted, leaving some gaps in the areas they covered. We noticed that you can't see the passenger side of Daniel's car. We saw Daniel, and so we didn't notice that his entire car wasn't visible on the tapes. But we did catch something on one of the other cameras. There was a second man in camouflage—white, about six feet, heavy set. He appeared briefly, and then disappeared into one of the gaps in the coverage. We've got security out looking for him. The cameras have been reset to cover the area properly."

"Any sign of Daniel on those tapes?" Jack asked. Teal'c stood silently, listening.

"No, sir," Carter's tone was regretful. "We've initiated a recall of all our off-duty security personnel so we can start a search of the entire area for both that man and Daniel. It'll take about another hour to get fully organized. In the meantime, I'll keep working on this."

"Roger. Keep me informed. Teal'c and I are going to climb the rest of the way up to the observation platform, and then head back down to organized the search of this area."

As Carter acknowledged his orders, Jack and Teal'c continued up the side of the mountain.

_Present time_

It was only another fifteen minutes to the top and after several minutes investigating the area around the observation platform, Jack and Teal'c headed back down.

"Daniel!" Jack called every thirty seconds or so, despite his gut feeling that Daniel was no longer on the mountain. Soon the SGC's security personnel would blanket the mountain. If Jack and Teal'c had somehow missed finding the archeologist, the security team undoubtedly would find him. But Jack didn't believe that was going to happen.

Jack was convinced the mysterious hiker was the key to finding Daniel, and he was eager to conduct a 'personal' interrogation. Focused on getting back to the SGC, he nearly missed a flash of brightness several meters to the side of the trail that had caused Teal'c to stop. The Jaffa moved toward it, while Jack waited on the trail. In a few minutes Teal'c returned. In his hand was Daniel's emergency blanket.

Without a word, Jack began running down the trail, moving as quickly as he could over the rough terrain, Teal'c following. He slowed as he reached the parking area. He could see that the security team was gathering. He started to move toward them, preparing to give them instructions. He was interrupted by Carter's voice.

"Colonel O'Neill? Sir?" Carter's voice was sharp with anxiety. "The hiker is still sticking to his story, but I've tracked the permit, and we took fingerprints from him. He's NID—or rather he was NID. The official file says he was 'reassigned' a month ago, but it doesn't say where to. General Hammond is working on that through official channels. I'm going to question him now."

"Any word on the second guy?" Jack asked. As he spoke his gaze fell on Daniel's car. He remembered being disturbed by it yesterday. Listening for Carter's reply, he moved toward it, wishing he could figure out what was bothering him.

"Sorry, sir. No word."

"Roger. I'll be down in a minute…" Jack's voice trailed off, as he terminated the conversation. He stared in the driver's side window, seeing no evidence of Daniel. The inside of the car was tidy, Daniel's briefcase lying on the back seat of the locked car.

Wait. Jack remembered clearly that on the tape Daniel had opened his trunk, taken out the daypack, and thrown the briefcase in. And then he had walked away. Without locking his car.

"Hey!" Jack called over to the security police gathering nearby. "Anybody got a knife? A leatherman?"

"Here, sir." A young airman reached down to his belt. Snapping open the carrying case, he pulled out the tool, trotted over to O'Neill and handed it to him.

Taking the leatherman, Jack moved to the trunk. He studied the lock, considering. Snapping open the leatherman, he chose a blade, and began working. Two minutes later he heard a 'thunk' in the lock. He reached down and pulled the trunk open- and found himself gazing directly into frightened blue eyes. He said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey, Daniel."

(TBC)


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Thank you for all the reviews! I apologize for the delay in getting this section posted. There is still more to come.

_Present Time_

For a moment the two men simply stared at each other. When Jack had thought to open the trunk, he'd been hoping to find some clues to where the archeologist might have gone. He hadn't expected to find the man himself. And while Daniel must have heard the voices, and the sound of the lock being picked, he seemed as surprised and relieved to see Jack as Jack was to see him.

A few more seconds passed before Jack could speak. "You want to get out of there?"

"Can't," Daniel grimaced and gestured toward his lower body. He was twisted to fit into the trunk, and so at first Jack couldn't tell what he was motioning towards. When he did, he had to choke back the desire to vomit at the grotesque angle of Daniel's foot to his lower leg.

"Don't move," Jack snapped, regaining control. He'd seen much worse injuries, of course, but that didn't make it any less disturging. "I'm calling the medical team. He grabbed his radio and pushed the transmit key. "O'Neill to Fraser."

"Here," Janet's reply was immediate, telling Jack she'd been waiting for the call. Jack ignored the lack of radio protocol in the urgency to communicate his message.

"We found Daniel. He's hurt. His ankle is broken. Let's get a stretcher and medic up here, now." He glanced back down at Daniel, who was ashen, his eyes closed, and his face was drawn with pain.

"They'll be there in ten minutes, Colonel."

"Make it five," Jack snapped. "And Janet? I think you might want to come with them." There was no reply, but Jack knew the doctor would be with her team. She'd probably been intending to join them all along.

Jack turned back to Daniel. "Hang in there, Daniel. Janet's on her way. We'll have you in the infirmary in a few minutes, okay?" Jack glanced around, wondering what else he could do to help, and his gaze fell on the airmen who were lingering, curious. He decided to put them to work. Grabbing the nearest non-commissioned officer, he said, "We're still looking for a civilian dressed in civilian hunting gear. It's unlikely he's still in the area, but I want this area searched. Cordon off the area." The sergeant strode away to call out the orders, leaving only Jack and Teal'c with Daniel.

Daniel opened his eyes. "Do you have any water?" Before Jack could get his canteen detached from his belt, Teal'c had offered his canteen. Daniel drank greedily. When he had drained the canteen he gave a small sigh of relief and handed it back to Teal'c.

"Thank you."

Teal'c nodded solemnly. "Do you need more?"

Daniel shook his head. "Not right now. Janet's on her way?" He lay back as best he could in the cramped trunk, his head resting on the plastic container that held the car jack.

"Yup. Daniel, how did you… where…" Jack threw up his hands, not certain how to phrase his question. Finally he just blurted, "How'd you get in the trunk? _Why'd _you get in the trunk?"

Daniel took a deep breath. "I went hiking."

"We know. We saw you on the security tape."

Daniel looked surprised, and then hurt. "You did? You saw me get in the trunk? And you let me stay here all this time?"

"No! For crying out loud, of course not! We saw you leave your car to go hiking, but the security cameras were tampered with- we could only see part of your car. We never saw you come back to it." Jack protested fiercely. Realizing he had raised his voice, and Daniel was cringing away, he reined himself in. "We… wait. Why don't you tell us what happened."

Daniel took a long, uneven breath, and Jack again realized just how exhausted the archeologist looked. "Just the highlights, Daniel. We can get the details later."

Daniel started to fill them in on what had happened the previous day, giving htem the highlights. He didn't mention having been left behind, or having been angry with Jack. Neither did he mention the fear he must have felt as he realized he was being tracked by two strange men. He stuck with facts, his story devoid of any emotional content. He had just reached the part where he'd twisted his ankle when Janet arrived, accompanied by a rolling gurney, a nurse, and a medic carrying medical supply cases. Clearly the doctor had come prepared for the worst. She quickly sized up the situation and immediately took control. She waved Jack and Teal'c away from the car, as she and the medic moved in. Her demeanor reminded Jack that when it came to medical situations she outranked him.

"Daniel?" Janet spoke calmly, confidently, nothing in her voice or face that might alarm her patient. Daniel had closed his eyes again, but at her voice they popped open. He managed a small smile that turned to a grimace. Janet leaned over the back of the car into the trunk, trying to examine him. Frustrated by the cramped working space, she snapped, "Let's get him out of here. Daniel, have you injured your back? Your neck?"

"No," Daniel replied, his teeth gritted. "Just my ankle."

"How did it happen?" Janet's upper body had all but disappeared into the trunk, as she tried to assess Daniel's injury. "And how long ago?" Her voice was so muffled Jack could barely hear her.

"About… what time is it now?" Daniel blinked up at Jack.

"It's almost 1700, Daniel," Jack told him, after checking his watch. He was stunned at how much time had passed.

"Oh." Daniel blinked again, and Jack had the distinct impression the archeologist was not firing on all cylinders. "Well, it was after dark… I guess around seven o'clock last night."

Janet straightened abruptly at this. "It's been nearly twenty-four hours?" she asked sharply, emerging from the trunk, only her small stature saving her from banging her head on the open trunk door. She grabbed the wire ladder splint and ace bandage the medic had pulled from one of the cases, clearly anticipating her wishes, before her upper body again disappeared. "How'd you do this?"

"I stepped on a tree root. I think. My ankle rolled, and I heard a-- Ow!" Daniel cried out.

"Daniel, I'm just going to stabilize the ankle in the position it's in, until we get you down to the infirmary. I'm going to move it as little as possible." Janet sounded short of breath, undoubtedly due to her uncomfortably twisted position.

"Um, anything we can do to help, Doc?" Jack offered tentatively.

"In a minute," came the short reply. Daniel groaned again, and Jack moved closer, trying to see what the doctor was doing. To Jack it seemed an eternity before she was satisfied with her splinting job, but when he glanced at his watch he saw that only a few minutes had passed. "That should do for the short term. Okay, Colonel. I'm going to want you and Teal'c in her to lift Daniel out of the trunk while Johnson supports his leg." Fraser moved out of the way so the three men could move in. Daniel looked at them nervously, anticipating the pain the movement was going to cause.

Jack studied the problem for a moment. Daniel was curled to fit into the trunk. Getting him out without bumping his injured leg would be tricky. "Okay. Daniel, can you sit up a little? I'm going to grab you under your arms, and Teal'c is going to grab under your knees while Johnson holds onto your lower leg, and keeps it from flopping around." He looked behind him for the gurney. Janet and the nurse, who had been quiet to this point, were already pulling it closer to the men. "Then we'll just lift, and Janet, you and….and…" he drew a blank.

"Lieutenant Reynolds," the nurse supplied.

"…and Lieutenant Reynolds will pull the stretcher right underneath Daniel, and we'll lower him to it. Everybody got it?"

Teal'c, Johnson, Fraser and Reynolds nodded. Daniel's gaze darted anxiously between them before he, too, nodded.

"On three." Jack moved into position, and Teal'c and Johnson followed suit. "One, two…" Jack slid his hands under Daniel's armpits, "Three!" Not entirely smoothly the three men lifted Daniel from the trunk and held him briefly while Fraser and Reynold moved the gurney into position. They carefully lowered the archeologist onto the it . Daniel remained silent, although Jack could see he was sweating, and his fists were clenched. When he was finally resting on the gurney, Daniel let out his breath with a long sigh.

Swiftly Johnson and Reynolds secured him to the gurney for the trip back to the mountain. Trying to avoid potholes and bumps, they maneuvered the gurney slowly to avoid jostling Daniel. Janet, following behind the gurney where Daniel couldn't see here, looked worried, and her concern raised Jack's anxiety. Her voice, when she spoke to Daniel was reassuring. "Daniel, we're going to get your boot off and get an X-ray, and then we'll see what we need to do. Okay?"

Daniel nodded, meeting her gaze briefly, before squeezing his eyes tightly shut as they gurney wheel encountered another rough spot on the pavement. Partially to distract him, and partially because he needed the information, Jack resumed his questioning.

"I still don't understand why you were in the trunk, Daniel."

Daniel opened his mouth to speak just as the gurney lurched, and a moan escaped.

"Colonel, I don't think now is the time," Fraser chided him. She had moved forward and now offered Daniel her hand. He was gripped it tightly.

"Doctor, I'm sorry, but we do need to know what happened after Daniel was hurt. We've got a suspect in custody, and one on the loose, and I need to know what Daniel knows."

"I don't know much, Jack. I've no idea why they were looking for me." Daniel swallowed hard, and looked up to meet Jack's eyes. "But I'll tell you what I know. He took a deep breath. As they finally reached the entrance to the complex, and Reynolds ran ahead to call the elevator, Daniel started telling his story.

_The previous evening_

For nearly an hour, Daniel didn't move, out of options. As his mind began to clear, and he remained undiscovered, he began to have hope. He was so close to his car. If only he could get there undetected, he could drive for help. Sure, he couldn't use his right leg, but his car was a standard. He thought he could manage, somehow. Of course, he had no idea how he was going to get to his car?

What did he have? What did he need? Daniel could hear Jack's voice querying him. What did he have? He had a broken ankle… Daniel cut the line of thought off. It wasn't productive. He had his emergency blanket, darkness, and… rocks. A lot of rocks. What did he need? He needed a distraction. He needed some way to getting Subordinate's attention away from the car long enough to allow Daniel to make his way to the car. And that might take quite some time, given that he wasn't going to be moving very quickly.

He needed to be a lot closer to his car, too. That was his first priority. Daniel let the emergency blanket slide off his shoulders, braced himself with his arms, and pulled himself to his knees. On his hands and knees, he began crawling the last several meters to the tree line at the edge of the parking lot. It was a slow, painful, process. At one point his foot caught on an exposed root, and the resulting pain was so excruciating that he fell to his side, his fist stuffed into his mouth, as tears rolled down his cheeks. He didn't know how long he lay like that, before he was able to gather his resolve enough to continue. Slowly, he forced himself back to his hands and knees, and managed to traverse the last short distance, stopping just short of the treeline and the illuminated parking area. The light, which had seemed so welcome before, was now his adversary. He could see his car, a mere thirty meters away, but there was nothing to shield him from view, once he left the shelter of the trees.

He could see Subordinate. Apparently not happy at being left alone at the base of the mountain, he was sitting at the base of the path, facing sideways, where he could see both the trail and the parking lot. He was smoking a cigarette, the bright red tip pinpointing his location. Daniel was grateful for the man's nicotine habit, since it helped Daniel keep tabs on his location. The light of the parking lot would hinder the man's night vision, as well. He would not be able to see much when he looked up the trail, with his pupils constricted from having been exposed to the light of the parking area. Daniel could use that.

Daniel knew it was the oldest trick in the book. The odds of his adversary falling for it were slim, but Daniel couldn't think of anything else to try- he had no other options. Knowing how unlikely his plan was to be successful, but having no other options, Daniel put his plan into action. He grabbed a medium size rock, about the size of his palm, and hurtled it up the mountain side, toward the trail. The rock knocked against branches, loud in the quiet of the night. Daniel watched as Subordinate rose slowly to his feet. The man didn't seem to be in any hurry, confident that his prey was trapped. He moved a few steps up the trail. Then, seeming to realize this could be a ploy, the man whirled around, to stare out at the parking lot again. Seeming reassured that nothing had changed, he sat back down.

Daniel waited. Fifteen minutes passed before he picked up another stone and threw it in the same direction. This time, when the man rose he went further up the mountain. Daniel knew Subordinate couldn't see much in the dark, his night vision ruined by the parking lot lights. Daniel watched him amble up the trail, and instead of immediately returning he wandered off the path a few feet. Daniel waited nervously, trying to decide if he should make his move. Not yet, he told himself. His ankle throbbed with pain, and he knew he had to be very carefully not to let his desire to get to his car override good judgment. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He waited until Subordinate had once again returned to the base of the trail, gave a quick glance toward the parking lot, and once again took his seat.

Daniel waited, trying to stay patient. He counted off the minutes. When he was certain at least five minutes had passed he rose to his knees. He picked up a rock in each hand. In quick succession he hurled them up the mountain, doing his best to place them in the same area as his previous throws. This time, the reaction was more immediate. Subordinate jumped to his feet and moved up the trail, clearly intent on finding the source of the noise. This was it. Daniel crawled toward the parking lot and his car. Despite the insanity of his plan, knowing this was likely his only chance to escape gave Daniel courage.

The journey across the parking lot was agony. The gravel bit into his knees, tearing first his jeans and then his skin. His ankle throbbed, each movement jolting, sending fresh shards of fresh pain through it. He managed to hold back his cries of pain, only allowing the occasional moan to escape. Halfway to the car, he was forced to stop. He lay flat on his stomach, gulping air and trying to stop the tears that insisted on leaking from his eyes. The effort seemed too much. Surely he'd be detected. It wasn't worth it.

He wasn't sure how long he lay in despair, but it couldn't have been more than a minute or two. The thought of Subordinate turning, glancing over the lot, and seeing Daniel lying on the gravel terrified him, and drove him back to his knees.

The second half of his journey was harder. The short rest had let the pain fade for just a moment, and with movement it woke again, biting furiously into him. As he crawled he lifted his head, saw that the car was marginally closer, and kept going. Lift a hand, lift a knee, other hand, other knee, injured leg bumping the ground. Over and over and over… his shoulder hit the front bumper of his car. He looked up, vaguely surprised that he had made it. The temptation to collapse was nearly overwhelming, but safety was an illusion. He had to get in the car, get away from here.

He managed to move a few more feet, putting the body of the car between him and the men hunting him. He took a moment to catch his breath. It occurred to him that he should be visible on the security cameras. He waved his arms frantically, hoping to catch someone's attention. The vigorous motion reverberated down his body, the movement hurting his ankle, so he stopped. Utterly exhausted, he reached up to the car handle and carefully opened the door an inch. He adjusted his position, and then rose to his good foot, using the car's door handle for support. He stayed bent double to avoid detection. It was a miracle he hadn't been seen already.

Daniel slowly opened the car door a foot. Contorting his body he slid through the small space, twisted, and let gravity pull him into the seat. He pulled his good leg in, and with his hands lifted his injured leg in behind him. He leaned back against the soft upholstery and sighed with relief, sliding down to stay below the windows. He was so close to being safe… He reached over and locked the door. Pivoting, he locked the back door as well. He was on the passenger side, and knew he'd need to move to the driver's side to get away. He started to maneuver over to the driver's seat when a terrible thought struck him.

No keys.

Daniel had a clear memory of putting the keys into the daypack. He'd even mentally congratulated himself for having the foresight to remove the noisy, jingling objects from his pocket and hide them. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he berated himself, as he pounded his head back against the upholstered seat. He would have sat longer, but an internal clock was ticking. Each moment that elapsed made it more likely the men would give up their surveillance of the mountain and begin to look elsewhere. It was reasonable to assume they would check his car. Not knowing if Subordinate had seen him crawling across the parking lot, made Daniel felt terribly exposed. Were they playing mind games? Did they know he was in the car? Reaching across he locked the driver's side door, knowing even as he did so that it was a futile gesture. If they wanted to get him out of the car, they would just break the windows. Daniel hoped that if it did come to that, the security personnel who should be monitoring the cameras that watched the lot would notice. It struck Daniel that the Security Police should have had time to make it to his car, if they'd seen him on the camera. That they hadn't was an ominous sign, and Daniel felt a chill run through him.

Staying low in the seat, Daniel wracked his brain. So close. He'd been so close to having a way out of this mess. Now, he would have to rely on remaining hidden. If only there was some way to hide in the car… the idea came slowly. At first Daniel dismissed it. He was exhausted, and the thought of how badly his ankle would hurt if he tried to crawl into the back seat dissuaded him. But the instinct to find a better hiding place was intense. Taking a deep breath and bracing himself for the pain, Daniel began laboriously climbing between the two front seats into the back seat. It took him ten minutes, and at least as many expletives, before he managed to pull himself through. Once there, he had to struggle to release the back seats, so he could fold them down, creating an opening through to the car trunk. It took him another fifteen minutes to maneuver through to the small opening into the cramped space. He was able to pull the driver side back seat up without difficulty. The passenger side seat proved much more difficult. There was nothing to grasp, and Daniel had little room to move. He had to contort himself to find a way to grasp it, setting up move waves of pain from his lower leg. Clearly the designers of the car had not intended the seats to be pulled up from someone inside the trunk. After struggling with the seat for several moments, Daniel was able to make a small tear in the fabric. He removed his belt. Hooking the belt latch to the tear, he managed to pull it upright, and with a sense of victory felt it click into place.

It was a short lived victory. Now ensconced in the tiny trunk, it didn't take long for Daniel's cramped muscles to begin to ache. He tried to move, but the confined space didn't allow him much freedom. The pain in his ankle was increasing exponentially, the waves of pain reaching what felt like seismic proportions. Crawling to the car, and then the effort to climb into the trunk had been agonizing. The endorphin rush that had accompanied his 'escape' was fading, and with it the small amount of pain suppression it had provided. He didn't know how long he might be here. There was no way to judge time, no light, no water. And, no way out. Belatedly, Daniel realized that while he may have successfully hidden from the men hunting him, he had also trapped himself in the car. He might have just done their work for them.

No. Daniel forced the thought aside. He'd done the only thing he could do. Surely, in the morning, someone would notice he was missing. They'd check his car. All he would have to do would be pound on the trunk and he'd be discovered. The trick would be not deciding when to make his presence known. Daniel clung to the thought of the coming rescue, refusing to think of any other outcome.

It was getting hard to think. The pain in his ankle was escalating again, and it made logical thought nearly impossible. So he quit trying. Exhausted, thirsty, and in pain, Daniel simply waited.

_Present time_

"I don't know how long I was in there," Daniel sighed, before giving a gasp as the gurney was rolled into the elevator. "I heard your voices, but they were so muffled, I couldn't' tell who it was." His voice sounded a little choked, and he coughed to cover the emotion.

Jack nodded, not sure what he could say. The mental image of an injured Daniel crawling to his car made his stomach clench. He mentally kicked himself. They should have found Daniel earlier. Why hadn't he checked the car before they'd searched the mountain? They would have saved Daniel hours of pain. Jack was already planning what he'd say to the security personnel who hadn't noticed a man crawling across the parking lot in the middle of the night, before remembering what he'd told Daniel that Carter had found out about cameras being sabotaged. Still, someone should have noticed something was amiss.

Daniel was watching him, studying his face intently. Jack didn't know what he was looking for. "Daniel?"

Daniel glanced quickly away. The elevator doors were opening, and the gurney was being pushed away from Jack, towards the infirmary. Jack hurried to catch up. "What, Daniel?"

"It's nothing." Daniel wasn't meeting Jack's eyes. Jack was going to push further, but Janet intervened.

"Colonel, now isn't the time. We need to get Daniel taken care of."

Jack looked as though he was going to protest, but Daniel spoke before he could.

"It's okay, Jack. You don't need to stay with me. I've managed okay this far."

The words 'without your help' weren't spoken aloud, but Jack heard them as clearly as if they had been.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors Note: I have a lot of very good excuses why this has taken so long, but I don't think they are all that interesting. I was going to wait until the story was complete and post the last chapter all as one, but because several people have been concerned I wasn't going to finish it, I'm posting what amounts to a half-chapter, and hope that helps tide people over to the final-- which I'm already working on. Sorry it has been so long since I've posted anything. I really, really appreciate your patience, and kind reviews. And the prodding to keep on with the story DID work :)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Though stung by Daniel's words, Jack didn't have time to dwell on them. Giving Janet and Daniel a look that promised he'd be back soon, he next went to General Hammond's office to update him before joining Carter in the interrogation room. He found that Teal'c had beat him there. Jack couldn't help but smile at the tableau in front of him. Carter was sitting at the table, across from the "hunter" they'd apprehended, while Teal'c stood behind the man. The hunter was clearly aware of him, and all but squirming.

"So," Jack began, "someone want to update me?"

"This man insists he is an NID employee," Teal'c rumbled.

"But the NID shows that he was reassigned from Washington, DC to Sacramento, California a month ago. Apparently it was a disciplinary action of some sort. An unofficial demotion. He kept his pay grade, but he has been moved into an administrative clerk position. Or so they claim," Carter explained.

"What's his name?" Jack asked.

"Lee," Carter replied. "James Lee."

Jack nodded, and then turned to the cowering man at the table. "Mr. Lee… or is it agent Lee? I want to know what you're doing here, in Colorado, when you're supposed to be working in California. I mean, if you're that big a Rockies fan, they DO travel to California. Frequently. So I know that's not it. So what brings you here? And why are you looking for Dr. Jackson?"

The man turned his head to look at him, and then glanced over his shoulder at Teal'c. He dropped his head, his shoulders hunched protectively.

Teal'c had had enough. He stepped forward, and leaned over the NID agent. His lips were nearly touching the man's ear. His voice was so low that Jack could barely hear what he said.

"I suggest you begin speaking immediately. I am going to ask Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill to step out unless you begin answering questions immediately. I remind you that I am not bound by any regulations regarding the interrogation of prisoners."

Lee was pale, and he looked quickly at O'Neill.

"You know, Carter, I have a lot of things I need to do, and I need to check on Daniel. Let's leave Teal'c and Lee to chat."

Now Lee was looking a little ill, as well as pale, and Teal'c had the closest thing to a smile that he ever wore.

"Wait! Look, I don't think I know as much as you think I do. I'm just an administrative clerk. I-"

"Oh, can it," O'Neill interjected. "I'm not buying it. You just left the DC office a month ago, coincidentally reassigned to the NID branch office closest to Colorado. Now, all we want to know is what you wanted from Daniel. And, oh, by the way, your organization is hanging you out to dry on this one. They're insisting you were operating alone, and they were under the impression you were in Colorado on vacation."

Lee muttered something under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Jack said. "I didn't catch that."

"I said, 'what would you expect them to say'" Lee snarled. "But believe me, I'm not acting on my own."

"Then tell me what you want with Daniel!" Jack's voice was now raised.

"It wasn't Dr. Jackson. It was any of you," Lee was muttering again, but they could make out his words. "He just happened to be a convenient target this time."

"What?" Simultaneously from Carter and O'Nell, followed by Teal'c's "Explain yourself."

"Look, I don't know who is running the show on this op, but I was told we needed to talk to a member of SG-1. Unofficially. The idea was to pick them up and bring them back to the branch office. I don't know what was going to happen after that. Then we found out that Dr. Jackson was going to be here, on earth I mean, without any of the rest of SG-1, and we decided to move. Look, we weren't going to hurt him. Not if he cooperated. We just needed him to come with us."

"How did you know Daniel was going to be here alone?" Jack asked, feeling a stab of guilt.

"I don't know," Lee said, and when Teal'c glowered at him he hastened to add, "I was just given the information by my commander. I don't know how he got it."

"Who are you working with?" Sam asked. "You keep saying, 'we'."

"I'm working alone."

"No you aren't," Jack contradicted him. "Even if you hadn't given yourself away, Daniel told us there were two men on the mountain looking for him."

"You…you've found Dr. Jackson?" Lee looked uncertain. "We… obviously we never found him."

Jack refused to answer Lee's questions. Lee didn't know what had happened after they'd had him picked up, and Jack wasn't going to enlighten him. It was an advantage to keep him confused. He didn't know what they might know, or not know."

"Who were you working with?"

Lee drew a deep breath. "I'm not going to answer any more questions. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually, but I'm not going to help you anymore. And I want to know what, exactly, you're charging me with, and under what authority. I haven't done anything wrong other than being on the same mountain at the same time as your teammate. I did nothing to hurt him."

Teal'c glowered and made a move forward, but Jack raised a hand to stop him. He didn't speak. He studied Lee carefully. Then he gestured to Teal'c and Carter to follow him. When they were all out in the hall, he finally spoke.

"He's got a point. He didn't actually do anything to Daniel. If they'd succeeded at nabbing him, it would be a different story."

"But, sir!" Carter protested. "They were going to kidnap him. Lee all but admitted it. And one of the assailants is still on the loose."

"I shall find him," Teal'c rumbled. "And perhaps we will get answers from him."

"Hold on, big guy. It's not that simple. We're going to need to get to the bottom of this, but we're going to have to do it another way. This isn't just about Daniel. He just happened to be the most convenient target this time." Because of me, Jack added mentally.

Carter had been staring at him as though he had lost his mind, but slowly her expression softened, and he saw agreement in her eyes. "I'll start doing some research. Maybe I can get a description from Daniel of the other man. I'll see if I can identify him, or find some connection to Lee."

"And I'll have General Hammond contact the president and start putting some pressure on the NID to provide whatever info they have on Lee. I'm sure they're going to deny that this was an official op."

"And what of Lee? Shall he be released?" Teal'c asked. His expression said clearly that such an event would occur only over his dead body.

Jack considered. "We don't really have much to hold him on—of course there is Daniel's statement, but they'll claim he misheard, or misunderstood. So, I think we're going to have to call the NID, release him to their custody. They'll make noises about disciplinary action, and deny any knowledge, and then they'll readjust their plans."

"That is unacceptable," Teal'c stated, while Carter stayed still. She had that look of intense concentration that told Jack she was thinking hard, trying to come up with a solution.

"Nope, it's not acceptable," Jack agreed. "And we're not going to. Accept it, I mean. But we're going to have to do this carefully, if we want any real answers. Now is not the time."

"You're right, sir. We'll have to do it carefully. I'll get to work on it. As soon as we see Daniel."

Teal'c didn't look happy with the idea of allowing Lee to return to the NID, but he gave Jack a curt nod that told the SG-1 leader he would comply.

Satisfied, Jack said, "Let's go see how Daniel is doing."

---------------------

In the infirmary, Janet was nowhere to be found. When questioned, Lieutenant Bose revealed that Janet was on the phone.

"Should we wait for her permission before going to see Daniel?" Carter mused.

It was Jack's turn to give her a look questioning her sanity at the idea. He didn't bother to reply. Instead, he turned to Lieutenant Bose. "Where's Daniel at?"

"He's in the observation room. If you hurry, you can see him before he's moved to pre-op."

"Pre-op?" Jack asked, suddenly concerned. "What for?"

"I think they're going to put a plate in to stabilize the ankle," Lieutenant Bose replied.

Jack nodded. That made sense. Still, he picked up his pace, wanting to see Daniel before he was taken away. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say, exactly, but he felt the need to say something. To apologize, although he wasn't sure exactly what for. All he knew for certain was that he needed to see his friend. Carter and Teal'c followed.

As soon as they entered the observation room, Jack sensed something was wrong. There was tension in the room. There was a nurse in the room—Jack couldn't recollect her name—and he saw Janet over in the corner. She was speaking on the phone, but her eyes were glued to Daniel.

Daniel. Jack moved toward the bed, noticing how very pale his friend was. An IV was hanging, with several small bags attached. Jack glanced at it and recognized the name of a potent painkiller. It didn't seem to be doing much good. Daniel appeared restless, and his face was taut with pain.

"Daniel?" Jack said as he moved closer to the bed.

"Jack?" Daniel turned to meet his gaze. His pupils were pinpoint, and Jack could see they were glazed.

"How's it going?"

"Not great," Daniel managed through gritted teeth. "I thought it would get better, once we got here…"

"Medicine isn't helping?" Jack asked.

"Not much," Daniel said, glancing up at the IV, as though it had betrayed him in not providing the expected relief. The nurse—Janine was her name, Jack now recalled—stepped over to them.

"Dr. Jackson? Any improvement now?"

"A little," Daniel said. "Now it's a seven."

Janine looked concerned. She shot a look at Janet who was hanging up the phone. Janet moved quickly to the bed. "Daniel? No better?"

Daniel shook his head, and then added. "Not much."

"Okay. We'll see if we can do something about that. But here's what is going on, Daniel. Because it was so long after you hurt your ankle before you got treatment, there was a lot of swelling, inside. That swelling has compressed the blood vessels, and cut off the circulation. That's what is causing you so much pain. We're going to have to relieve the pressure, and make room for the swelling. We're going to do a fasciotomy at the same time that we pin the ankle. We need to do that right now, because the blood has been cut off from your foot for a long time. Okay?"

Daniel looked a little overwhelmed, but he nodded. Jack had a feeling he was so desperate for relief he would have agreed to anything. Jack himself wasn't so easily dissuaded.

"What's a fas…fas… what do you plan to do to Daniel?" Jack asked.

Janet looked over at him. "Sir, we're short on time here. We need to get Daniel into surgery. I'll explain later."

Jack wasn't happy with the answer, but he knew Janet was right, so he backed off.

The orderly had arrived to push the bed to the pre-op area, so any extended conversation would have to wait. Still, Jack felt as though he needed to say something. " Daniel, I- "

Daniel lifted a hand to cut Jack off. "Jack, please. We'll talk. Later. Not now. Please."

Jack had no choice but to acquiesce, as Daniel's bed was already in motion. He watched as Daniel disappeared through the double doors, wondering how they were going to make this right.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Wow. This has taken far longer than I expected. But it's finally finished. If anyone is still reading, thanks for sticking with it. I've enjoyed writing it, and hope you've enjoyed reading it.

- - - - -

Jack watched as Daniel's eye's fluttered open, and then closed again. "Daniel?" he asked softly, but Daniel did not respond.

"He's not really awake, sir," Janine, the nurse taking care of Daniel, said softly. Jack nodded, masking his irritation. He knew Daniel wasn't awake yet- he was just hoping Daniel was aware of his presence. He had resolved to be there when Daniel woke up, and Janet had grudgingly let him into room as soon as the archeologist had been settled. In the small medical facility under Cheyenne Mountain, they typically allowed patients to wake up in their own beds, as they had adequate staffing, and enough critical care trained nurses to allow this luxury. Only when dealing with large numbers of casualties did they keep patients in the designated recovery area. So Daniel had been brought right back to his own bed.

Jack watched as the nurses worked quietly around his friend. He watched as they made sure his Daniel's injured leg was supported. It was wrapped in bandages, so he couldn't see the ugly gash that had been surgically created to relieve the pressure in the tissue.

Janet had finally explained the problem to him, and honestly, he wished she hadn't. The thought of the deep wound, deliberately left open, bothered him. The fracture had been repaired easily enough, Janet had reported, and as soon as the swelling in the tissue was down enough to allow her to close up the wound, either with sutures or with a skin graft, he would be able to go home to recover. How long that would be was unclear, but Jack intended to take advantage of having a captive audience to have a long talk with Daniel. Of course, he would have to wait until Daniel was awake. And coherent. Experience had taught him that while conversing with a drugged Daniel had a certain entertainment value, little else would be accomplished. So conversation would have to wait. For now, he just wanted Daniel to know he wasn't alone.

Daniel's eyes fluttered again, and he turned his head, sighing, before falling back asleep. Jack decided this would be a good time to grab coffee, a quick snack, and a shower. He was only gone for twenty minutes, and when he returned nothing seemed to have changed. Leaning back in his chair to balance against the wall, he settled in to wait. He had a few overdue reports he could work on, but he couldn't summon up the interest. Instead he thought about the NID agent. The man had remained adamantly silent, not even Teal'c's able to pull answers from him. Of course, Jack reflected, General Hammond had put strict restrictions on the Jaffa, and the NID agent had undoubtedly counted on such. Finally, after several long, heated conversations on his red phone, Hammond had ordered the man released. When Jack had protested, Hammond had drilled him with a look. "Trust me on this, Jack," the general said softly, and his tone, and his eyes, had promised that this wasn't the end.

Jack didn't have to wait long for Daniel to wake. Ten minutes later Daniel sighed, turned, and his eyes opened. He blinked, appearing confused, and his eyes drifted closed again. A few seconds later they opened again.

"Hey, Daniel," Jack said.

"Jack?" Daniel asked, squinting in his direction. Jack picked up Daniel's glasses from the bedside table, and gently settled them on Daniel's face. Daniel watched him, and licked dry lips. "Thirsty," he mumbled.

"You can have some water in a little bit," Janine, who had slipped into the cubicle, told him. "You need to wake up a little bit more first." She was carrying a paper cup with water and she dipped a small pink sponge on a lollipop stick into the water, and moistened Daniel's lips with it. He eagerly sucked the water from the sponge. His eyes slid shut again.

"Daniel," Janine prompted gently. "You can go back to sleep in just a minute. Are you in pain?"

Daniel shook his head, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Okay." She took his hand and guided it to the call button. If you need anything you can push this, but I'll be watching you. Now, you can go back to sleep."

Already asleep, Daniel didn't reply.

- - - - - - - -

Unfortunately, the respite was short-lived. The next several days were difficult for Daniel and the rest of SG-1. The deep incision in Daniel's leg was painful, as was the skin graft required to close it. SG-1 took turns staying with Daniel until the pain was well enough controlled that he could sleep through the night. Jack took the bulk of the overnight shifts, doing his best to distract the pain-wracked archeologist. As Daniel slowly improved, Jack sensed the archeologist withdrawing from him. Daniel was unerringly polite, but when Jack tried to steer the conversation towards their last mission, Daniel would claim exhaustion. Finally Jack had given up, vowing that as soon as Daniel was out of the infirmary they would talk.

- - - - - - - - -

Daniel slid gingerly from the seat of Jack's truck, careful to keep his injured leg from bumping the side of the truck. Standing on one leg, he waited while Jack grabbed the crutches from the back seat, and brought them to him. Daniel gave him a quick smile of thanks. Adjusting the crutches beneath his arms, he surveyed the distance to the front door and mentally calculated the distance beyond that to Jack's couch. He could make the distance he decided. It was about the same distance Janet had made him cross to prove he was competent on the crutches. Well, maybe a little further. He knew he could ask Jack to get the folded up wheelchair out of the back of the truck if he thought he couldn't make it. Jack stood by the door, ready to grab the chair, but waiting, not pushing. Maybe, under different circumstances Daniel would have relented, but not here, not now. His pride wouldn't allow it. He didn't want to show any weakness, any need for help, in front of Jack.

It was foolish, he knew. After all, he was injured, and Jack knew it. It wasn't like he was fooling anyone. Moreover, Jack had seen him far more vulnerable than this. Still, on this occasion he couldn't bring himself to accept any more help from Jack than absolutely necessary.

In the days following his 'accident' on the mountain, things had been too chaotic, and he'd been in too much pain, to think about the events that had led up to his been injured. When he'd been bed ridden and heavily drugged he had not been able to think, and then as his recovery progressed and he'd been involved in physical therapy he'd had little time or energy to dwell on the reason he'd been mountain climbing in the middle of a work day. But as his discharge had neared, and he'd had to start planning on going home, he'd had to face the stark reality that going home to his own place was not practical. He could barely negotiate a few stairs; his apartment, with its long flights of stairs and no elevator was out of the question. On top of that, he tired easily, and while he would never admit it, having someone else to do the cooking and cleaning for a few days would make his life very much easier. Still, even though he desperately wanted to get out of the infirmary he would have to stay with Jack. And, much as he'd tried to deny it to himself, he was angry at Jack.

It had taken him some time to realize it. At first he'd been grateful for Jack's, and the rest of his team's constant presence at his bedside. It had been after his recovery had been well underway, and his team had resumed limited missions that he'd begun to notice that whenever Jack came to see him he felt an unreasonable irritation. Although therapy had taken up some of his time, he'd still had plenty of time to think--and to rehash in his mind the events that had led up to his being summarily removed from the team. And as he had played the mental tape over and over again, he had come to the conclusion that he'd been wronged.

He didn't blame Jack for his injury--not really. That had been an accident, pure and simple. And the men that had been hunting him could have done the same thing any time, any where. If anything, the fact that he'd been on the mountain where he'd been able to hide and plan an escape had likely saved him from a worse situation—like being forced off an isolated mountain road as he drove home, or suddenly confronted by strangers during his evening run. No, regardless of the fact that he'd ended up with a mangled leg, the situation clearly could have been worse. He'd been put in a difficult situation, and he'd handled it. What was eating him now was what had driven him to the mountain in the first place-- a desire to escape the confines of the military and the SGC with all the accompanying rules and restraints, and perhaps most of all, a desire to escape Jack with his constant admonitions, warnings, and overbearing concern.

Most of the time he tolerated Jack's need to take control and monitor every detail of every mission. In fact, he appreciated it, even relied on it. But now it was wearing on Daniel. And as he'd reviewed the situation, he'd become convinced that he had done nothing wrong. And he wasn't going to let Jack twist things to try to convince him otherwise.

Jack's attempts at conversation had been politely, but firmly rebuffed. Daniel could sense Jack's growing frustration, as conversational gambits were ignored, and Daniel made every conceivable excuse to avoid talking. Whenever Jack came by Daniel was either in therapy, or getting ready to go to therapy, or resting after therapy. He was always "too tired to chat", or "really concentrating" on work, or doing any of the dozens of other tasks he had manufactured to keep Jack at bay.

But Jack had outplayed him. Before Daniel had the chance to make plans for his release from the infirmary, Jack and Janet had collaborated and arranged for him to go home with Jack. When Daniel had suggested privately to Janet that perhaps he should be allowed to go home alone, she had nearly choked on the coffee she was sipping, and she hadn't bothered to reply. He had tried again with Jack, with even worse results. Jack had laughed out loud. Unfortunately Sam and Teal'c had been present at the time, and they had immediately weighed in on Jack's side. Daniel had surrendered to their combined arguments, but had inwardly vowed that he would not allow Jack to brow beat him into talking. He would keep control. And, at his first opportunity, he would get back to his own place.

"Daniel?" Jack finally broke the brooding silence. "Ready to go in?"

"Sure." Daniel repositioned the crutches and began the laborious process of making his way up the sidewalk toward Jack's house. Immediately Jack was at his side, ready to lend support if needed. On some level Daniel appreciated the gesture, but on another it irritated him. He bit his tongue, hard, and kept himself from saying anything he'd regret. 'Jack is just trying to help' he reminded himself. When they were a few feet from the entrance, Jack finally moved away to unlock the door. Daniel paused, taking a breather, and secretly wondering if he was going to be able to make the last few feet without help. He hadn't expected to be so winded. Jack looked worried, but seemed to sense Daniel's mood and didn't offer help, but remained alert and ready to lend a hand. Daniel negotiated the door jam and then the short distance to Jack's couch. With a sigh he lowered himself, careful to keep his injured leg from touching anything. Trying to get comfortable on the couch that he realized he needed something to support his leg.

"Umm, Jack?" he began.

"Yes?" Jack asked from somewhere down the hall. Before Daniel could answer Jack reappeared with a large fluffy pillow.

"Nevermind," Daniel said, shaking his head slightly at Jack's ability to anticipate his need.

Jack lifted Daniel's leg, and carefully slid the pillow underneath it. He knew the archeologist's leg was still very tender. When Daniel was settled, his leg supported and a glass of ice water at his side, Jack took a seat in his recliner and with a sigh settled into it, taking a swallow of the beer he'd brought with him. His thirst temporarily slated, he stared over at Daniel. Their eyes met for an instant, and then Daniel dropped his. Jack had deliberately not brought Daniel his laptop or any reading material, and he'd even put the TV remote away. Jack was perfectly aware that Daniel had been using every excuse in the book to avoid talking to him. Fine, Jack thought. But he wasn't going to have anything else to do. He leaned his head back and studied the ceiling, letting his mind wander. When several minutes had passed and Daniel hadn't spoken Jack lifted his head to look at his friend.

Daniel had fallen asleep, exhausted from the trip from the mountain. Jack watched him for a moment, and then got up to see what he had in the fridge for dinner. He'd meant to go grocery shopping last night, but he'd been distracted by the hockey game--it had been the Stanley Cup finals--and by the time the game was over he'd been too sleepy. He'd thought to pick up a few staples on the way home, but Daniel's pale face and pained winces when they hit rough spots had convinced him it was wiser to go straight home. Daniel's exhasuted collapse onto the couch had confirmed that he'd been right. But the problem remained--his house was nearly food-free.

Jack surveyed the coupons and advertisements he had accumulated in a drawer next to the refrigerator. Reviewing them, he decided on Chinese. After checking to make sure he had cash to pay the delivery person, he called in the order, grabbed another beer, and made his way back to the living room.

Daniel's eyes were open, and he gave Jack a small smile. "Sweet and sour pork and chicken lo mien?" he asked. "Not feeling very adventurous tonight?"

"Nope." Jack plopped down and propped his feet up. "Some of us don't feel any need for adventure at meal time." He studied his friend. "You doing okay? Need anything for pain?"

Daniel shook his head, and glanced around. "No, I'm fine… hey, where's the remote?"

Jack tried to look innocent. "I don't know. I think I threw it at the TV last night when I was watching the hockey game, and I haven't been able to find it since."

Daniel looked suspicious. "You haven't been able to find your remote? Have you even looked?"

"Haven't had time. I turned the TV off manually, and then this morning I went to work. This is the first time I've been home since. I'm sure it's behind the entertainment center--I just haven't crawled back there yet."

"So look now," Daniel suggested. "Unless you're planning on getting up to turn the channel every thirty seconds, since I know you won't watch a single channel for longer than that."

"Hey! I do too. I'll watch all the way until the commercial," Jack protested. "Besides, I don't feel like watching TV right now."

Daniel narrowed his eyes. "You don't want to… okay, who are you, and where's the real Jack O'Neill?" Daniel's tone was joking, but his expression was guarded.

Jack sighed. He wasn't going to be able to ease into this as much as he'd hoped. "Well, I was thinking… maybe we could play chess."

Daniel's mouth had actually dropped open. "Instead of watching hockey?"

"No game tonight. It's a travel day," Jack told him. "Game four tomorrow. So I thought we'd pass the time playing chess, or gin, or something. Although dinner will be here in about ten minutes, so maybe we should just set up, and then play after dinner."

"Set up?" Daniel asked, glancing over at the pre-set board on Jack's coffee table. "I don't think that's going to take very long, Jack," he commented wryly.

"What? Oh," Jack followed Daniel's glance. "I forgot I'd set that up the other day."

Daniel sighed. Jack was doing his best to be subtle, but failing miserably. And Daniel was determined not to be dragged into a conversation he didn't want to have. "Jack, I'll play chess after dinner, but right now, I'd like to check my email. Where's my laptop?"

"Your laptop?" Jack asked innocently. When Daniel scowled at him, he sighed. "It's in the truck. Do you need it right this minute?" Seeing Daniel's expression he added," Of course you do. I'll get it. But I don't have wireless, and the couch is too far from any of the cable connections, so you'll have to wait until you go upstairs."

"Jack," Daniel shook his head. "You know perfectly well I have a satellite connection. As do you. It won't be a problem."

Unable to think of any other excuses at the moment, Jack surrendered and went to the truck to bring in Daniel's laptop and briefcase. He was just locking the truck when dinner arrived. Gesturing at the young man carrying the bags to follow him, Jack deposited the briefcase and laptop next to Daniel, and then grabbed the money to pay for the meal and a tip off the counter. The young man counted the money, and appeared inordinately pleased with the tip. He gave Jack a grin, and then departed.

"You want to eat on the couch, or at the table?" Jack asked Daniel, who was engaged in firing up his laptop.

"Table, I guess," Daniel replied without looking up. Jack tried not to take it personally. After all, Daniel had been without his work for days. Jack set the table, and then when Daniel still didn't look up, he picked up the crutches and took them to the archeologist. Daniel still didn't seem to notice his presence. Jack leaned the crutches against the couch, and then lifted the laptop neatly out of Daniel's hands, finally earning a reaction. "Hey!"

"Dinner is served, Dr. Jackson," Jack said bowing low, gesturing at the table with a flourish. "Do you need any help?"

"No," Daniel grabbed the crutches and struggled to his feet. He maneuvered over to the table and threw the crutches away from himself with disgust. Turning his attention to the meal, he inhaled deeply. "Smells good."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, pretty good for take-out. Hey, what were you working on?"

Daniel shoved a mouthful of sweet and sour chicken into his mouth without answering. When he'd had a chance to chew and swallow, he said, "Well, I'm looking into creating a primer on different cultures for the SG teams with an emphasis on writing samples. Most places we go we find writing, sometimes even before we meet the people. I think it would help the teams if they could identify what Earth cultures the people we encounter came from. It would give them a starting point on how to begin interactions. Try to avoid the big culture faux pas. Of course, since the cultures have diverged it certainly wouldn't be perfect but it could be a starting point-" Daniel stopped mid-sentence. "You're not interested."

Jack felt a sharp pang. His mind HAD been wandering. And Daniel had picked up on it, as usual. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in what Daniel was doing. On the contrary, he wondered what had been occupying the archeologist's time when the rest of the team had been off world while he recuperated. But right now he'd been thinking how he could initiate the conversation he really wanted to be having and his mind had wandered from what Daniel was saying. He tried to make up for it.

"I'm sure if you provide samples, we could get the print plant involved and make a real quality product that the teams could carry with them. Pocket sized, maybe?" Jack suggested. Daniel visibly brightened at the idea. Or was it merely at the fact that Jack was actually paying attention? Jack felt another pang of guilt. He motioned for Daniel to go on, and the archeologist happily rambled on about his plans for the primer. Jack tried not to let his mind wander as he ate the sweet and sour pork and listened to his friend. When Daniel finally wound down, Jack pushed his plate away and said, "Sounds like a good idea. Put the requisition in for whatever you'll need, and I'll get it through. I'm full. You?"

Daniel had been so busy talking he hadn't had time to eat much of his meal. Now, he turned to it and found it more appealing than he'd thought. By the time he was done Jack had cleared the rest of the table, and cleaned up the small mess in the kitchen. Jack took Daniel's plate and asked, "You want anything else?" Daniel shook his head. "Want to play chess here, or you want to get back to the couch?"

Daniel considered. What he really wanted to do was get back to working on his project, but he obviously wasn't going to get out of this. He considered the question. His leg was starting to throb and he really wanted to be back on the couch, but it would be easier to play chess at the table. He decided. "Couch. Can you grab my crutches?"

"Jack," Daniel sighed. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Jack looked up from the board, and then back down at it, reconsidering. "Yup."

"Okay. Be my guest." Daniel watched as Jack moved his queen. Daniel considered the board. It would take him three moves to put Jack into checkmate. Jack was playing very poorly, and that was unusual. While Daniel could usually manage to beat him, Jack was a more than competent player, if somewhat predictable at times. Today he had been unfocused, making foolish moves. If Daniel didn't know better, he'd think Jack was deliberately losing. Daniel leaned forward to make his move, and as he did so he leaned forward a little too far, overbalanced, and his hand caught the edge of the board that was hanging off the table. The board tipped, spilling the playing pieces.

"Oops."

Jack stared at Daniel, his eyes narrowed. Daniel returned the gaze. "You did that on purpose?"

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did!"

"Didn't!"

"Did!"

"Jack, I was going to checkmate you in three moves. Why would I toss the game?" Daniel asked, all innocence.

Jack considered, and then sighed. "Yeah, you were kicking my butt. I'm not playing too well today."

"That's an understatement."

"I've got other things on my mind, I guess."

Daniel tensed. Jack saw it, but pushed on. "Daniel, we need to talk."

Daniel dropped his gaze, and then lifted it again. "Yeah."

"Daniel…I'm sorry you got hurt. I'm sorry it took us so long to find you. We should have found your car earlier, and should have checked it out completely immediately. We'd have found you a lot earlier. That was inexcusable."

Daniel stared at Jack, his expression inscrutable. He simply watched Jack for so long that Jack was becoming uncomfortable. "Daniel?"

"You think I'm upset because I broke my ankle on the mountain, and it took you a while to find me?"

Jack was puzzled. "Well, yeah."

Daniel gave a dry little laugh that held no humor. "Jack, let me reassure you. I do not blame you for anything that happened on the mountain. And not looking for me in my trunk… well you found me eventually." Daniel shrugged.

Jack watched him. There was no lessening of the tension in Daniel's face and body. "So…"

"What?" Daniel asked.

"So, what you are mad about is…" Jack prompted. When Daniel didn't pick up on the opening, he sighed. "Daniel, what is bothering you?"

"What's bothering me? Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you kicked me off SG-1?"

"Daniel, I didn't kick you off SG-1. You know that. I simply kept you off a single mission. One that I thought was too dangerous."

Daniel exploded. "Too dangerous? Jack haven't you learned anything! Too dangerous? More dangerous than being tracked by armed men?"

"It's not the same thing, Daniel."

"How is it different, Jack? Tell me that, please. Tell me how it's different!"

"Daniel, when we're off-world, your safety, and that of Carter and Teal'c, for that matter, are my responsibility. Mine. And I was concerned that you were behaving in a way that put yourself, and the rest of the team, at risk."

Daniel shook his head in frustration. "How? How am I putting the team anymore at risk than anyone else? And I'm not at any more risk off-world than on Earth. Obviously." Daniel gestured at his injured leg. His words were heated, and his face was flushed with emotion.

Jack took a deep breath. This was not how he'd wanted this conversation to go. They were both becoming angry. Jack took another breath. "Daniel, hold on. Let's start over."

Daniel shook his head briefly and looked down, away from Jack's scrutiny. Jack watched as he took a few deep breaths, composing himself before looking back up.

"Okay, Jack. Bottom line. You don't trust me. You don't respect the fact that I can take care of myself. You think I'm oblivious to the dangers when we're off world. But you forget. I've been taking care of myself for years. I've been on digs that are more dangerous than half the places we visit. And I'm aware of the dangers. It's just that… I don't let the worry consume me. I couldn't function that way, Jack. It would… I just can't work that way. I take responsibility for my own safety."

"Daniel. Listen to me. I've always respected you. Even when I didn't like you on that first trip to Abydos, I respected your knowledge. And since then you've earned my respect, AND my trust in many other ways. Don't doubt that."

Daniel gave a sardonic laugh. "Right. That's why you kicked me off the team. Oh, wait… you didn't kick me off the team. You just won't let me go on the interesting missions, you trust me that much." Daniel was leaning forward, a bundle of intensity. "I certainly can see the trust."

Jack bit down on the snarky reply that sprang to mind, realizing it would only be adding fuel to a fire that had been simmering for a long time. Daniel needed to vent, and with good reason, Jack thought. He'd certainly done enough to create doubt in the younger man's mind, with snide comments and asides over the years. He hadn't meant to undermine Daniel, but in retrospect he realized how he had subtly been eroding the other man's confidence. No wonder Daniel doubted his statement now. Jack had to fix this, but Daniel needed to vent his anger before they could have a real conversation. So Jack bit his tongue, prepared to let Daniel continue. Daniel, however, abruptly stopped.

"I have to get out of here." He was leaning forward, trying to get to his feet. He looked around for his crutches. Seeing they were out of reach, he gritted his teeth and ground out, "Could you please hand me those?" he gestured at the crutches as he stood on one leg. He'd gone pale.

"Daniel, sit down."

When Daniel turned to glare at him before returning his gaze to the out of reach crutches Jack quickly changed approaches.

"Daniel, please. Sit down," Jack said quietly, lifting his hand, placating. "If you want to go home, I'll take you and get Carter or Teal'c to help you out, but please sit down for a minute."

Daniel wavered, indecisive, but Jack could see he was hurting. When Daniel finally sat back down, Jack knew it was the pain that had driven him back down onto the couch, not anything Jack has said. Daniel was watching Jack warily. He was on the couch, but still tense, leaning forward, looking as though he would bolt if he could. Jack lifted his hand and scrubbed it through his hair, sighing.

"Daniel… honestly, I don't know what to say to you. You know how I am. I'm not good at showing people… look, I wisecrack, I joke around. Sometimes I go too far. But that doesn't mean… " Jack struggled for words, and then gave up. If Daniel really didn't know him well enough to understand how Jack dealt with people, dealt with the world, then nothing Jack could say would get through. Jack sank back into a chair, and let his gaze drift outside. Spying his truck, he wondered idly if he shouldn't go get the wheelchair and spare Daniel the trip on crutches. Should he call Teal'c or Carter, he wondered, his mind drifting. Ready to make the call he glanced back at Daniel.

"Jack, I know how you work. I do. But sometimes you take it too far. And this wasn't wisecracking. This was… more." Daniel paused, took a deep breath, and then in a rush said, "Jack, I'm not going to be on the team part time. Either I'm a member of SG-1 all the time, or I'm not on the team. I can't work any other way. I won't. So you need to decide." Daniel leaned back, grimacing as he tried to settle himself back on the couch. He was pale, and looked exhausted. He shifted back on the couch, and then leaned over and lifted his legs onto the couch. Wordlessly, Jack slid a pillow under the injured leg. "Need something for pain?" he asked.

Daniel shook his head. Jack studied him, opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then opened it again. "Daniel, I'm not kicking you off of SG-1. I want you on the team. You know that. But I can't… I won't let you get yourself, or someone else, killed. Because bottom line is, I'm responsible. So you let me know how you want to play this."

"Jack, you know I can't just… keep silent about what I think. Otherwise I might as well not be on the team.

"I'm not asking you to!" Jack exclaimed, frustrated that Daniel didn't seem to understand what he was trying to say. "I want you to do your job. I WANT you to argue with me…" Jack shook his head, and with a wry grin added, "and I'll deny having ever said that. I want you to keep doing what you do—except once I make a decision, I need you to support it. Sometimes I won't have time to explain my reasons. I don't want to have to always wonder if you're going to follow an order."

Daniel was at a loss for a moment. Jack waited silently. Finally he spoke. "Jack, I take responsibility for my own actions. If something happens to me, it's my own fault. I won't blame anyone. And Jack I'm not foolhardy. I-"

Jack couldn't contain himself. He gave a snort of laugher. Daniel glared at him, but when Jack continued to chuckle, Daniel couldn't help but smile. "Okay, maybe I'm a little… careless at times. But-"

"Daniel." Jack wasn't smiling anymore. "Here's the bottom line. I am responsible for the safety of the team. That means I have to make rules, and there are times I'm going to make decisions you don't like."

"So, it's your way or I'm off the team?" Daniel asked angrily.

"Daniel. I didn't say that. But I do need to know if you can live with those rules."

Daniel was silent for several seconds. He watched Jack intently. Finally he gave a quick nod. "I can try to do that."

"That's all I ask, Daniel." Jack drew a deep breath, and prepared to make an off the cuff comment, some joke. Seeing that Daniel was still staring at him intently gave him pause. "Daniel?"

"I need you to treat me like an adult. I may not be military, but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of taking care of myself. I…"

"Daniel." Jack's voice was quiet, but it cut through Daniel's impassioned speech, cutting the archeologist off. "I know that. If I didn't know it before, I certainly do now."

Jack didn't reply. Instead he went into the kitchen. A minute later he returned with a glass of water and a pill bottle. He handed both to Daniel, who took both without saying a word, and quickly downed the medication. When he was done Jack took the glass and bottle and put them on the table, and then settled himself back into the recliner.

"So that's your final decision? Either you go on all the SG-1 missions, or you want off the team?" Jack asked calmly.

Daniel nodded.

"Well, I guess that doesn't give me any choice does it?" Jack asked.

Daniel swallowed hard, but shook his head.

"Okay. Then I guess you'll be going on all the missions. So next time you want to stay behind to work on a 'fascinating translation' you just remember this conversation." Jack told him.

Daniel looked stunned. "That's…that's it?"

"Unless you have something else."

"No, no. Nothing else." Daniel seemed stunned, and it amused Jack a little to see the archeologist, usually so verbose, at a loss for words.

"Although you are going to have miss the mission we leave on in…" Jack glanced at his watch, "about seventy-two hours. I don't think you'd be able to get Janet to clear you for off-world that soon."

"No, I guess not," Daniel said, still dazed by what must seem a sudden turn of events. "She said at least six more weeks before I'm off the crutches. Jack, you're sure?"

"Daniel. I don't know how to make this clear. I want you on SG-1. I can put up with your… idiosyncrasies, if you can put up with mine. Got it?"

Daniel nodded. He didn't look up at Jack. He appeared to be studying the throw pillow from the couch closely, picking at it's threads.

"You want me to call Carter or Teal'c?" Jack asked. His voice was level, but his insides were in turmoil, as he waited for Daniel's answer. Was Daniel comfortable enough to stay with him?

"Yeah," Daniel replied, without looking up. Jack's heart sank, but reached for the phone. "Ask if they want pizza or Chinese," Daniel added. He looked up and met Jack's gaze, with a smile that finally reached his eyes. "Don't you think tonight would be perfect for a team movie night?"

Jack began to dial. "Yes. I do. What should we watch? The Fugitive?"

Daniel snorted.

- - - - - - - - - -

Epilogue

One thousand miles away in a small apartment in northern California, several men were gathered around a table. While from outside the apartment appeared mundane, inside apartment 203 things were anything but ordinary. Each man had a laptop computer at the table, but that was only the beginning. Security cameras provided views in and out of the complex, and wires snaked across the floor connecting all manner of surveillance equipment, including satellite imagery providing live feed.

"That was a totally blown operation." A tall, dark-haired men commented, leaning back in his chair. "We had the perfect opportunity, and we let it slip right through our fingers." He turned to the man next to him, a short Asian man. "How'd you let it get away from you."

The Asian man looked uncomfortable. His clothes were rumpled, and he was unshaven, the result of having flown on a red-eye flight. He'd arrived at apartment 203 forty-five minutes earlier. He shrugged. "We saw us. Somehow he knew we were after him, and he hid. We were told he was a geek who'd be no problem. We didn't expect him to hide. We didn't have time to really set up an effective trap."

"Excuses. There were two of you," the first man now glared at the taller, silent man who was trying to fade into the background, "trying to catch one archeologist, who was injured for heaven's sake. Incompetence."

"Enough. It's over." A short man stepped from the adjoining kitchen. He was eating a hotdog. The members of SG-1 would have recognized him immediately.

"We might have another opportunity." The dark-haired man who had been shooting glares at his companions finally turned to meet his leaders eyes. "SG-1 is going on a mission in three days. Obviously Dr. Jackson won't be going with them. We could try again."

"No." The hotdog finished, Maybourne licked his fingers. "Too risky. They're on alert now. They'll have him under surveillance at all time. I bet he stays in the mountain the whole time they're gone. No, we'll have to wait." Maybourne smiled, a look that seemed to drop the temperature in the room ten degrees. "I can be a very patient man."

FINIS


End file.
